Imagine me, bright eyed like a kid on Christmas, ripping open the box to my brand new PlayStation 5 earlier this year. Out of the box, I felt its weight and thought it heavy, even then. I let it stand alone while I fiddled with the cables. In an instant, the $US500 ($694) I just spent fell like a loose brick off the table I had foolishly left it standing on. It landed with a heart-stopping thud on the carpet floor. I cradled it like a parent would a child, cooing and petting it, hoping nothing was damaged. Thankfully it worked, but even then I wondered why the beast needed all that heft.
Well, thankfully, Sony Interactive is apparently still working on the PS5’s overall weight. Our mates at Press Start Australia first reported Monday that the newly-released CFI-1202 series PS5 models are lighter than previous versions! The CFI-1202A disc version and CFI-1202B digital-only edition were revealed by Japanese retailers and have since been picked up by a few Aussie game shops, despite not officially being available yet, hence Press Start’s report.
After digging through each console’s manual, Press Start spotted that each console was quite a bit lighter. The disc version weighs 3.9kg, which is a little less than the 2021 version, which weighed 4.2kg. The newest digital edition weighs 3.4kg compared to the 3.9kg 2021 version.
News of this lighter console comes less than a week after Sony announced it was driving up the price of both the console’s digital and disc versions in most of the world’s hottest markets. The console is now 50 Australian dollars more expensive in that country, though Sony claimed the price jump was due to inflation and “adverse currency trends.” The few major markets where the console is remaining at its previous price point are the U.S., Brazil, and South Korea.
This isn’t the first time Sony has reduced the weight of its premier console. The company also reduced the PS5’s weight in 2021 with the CFI-11XX models. The major difference with last year’s version was a change in heatsink. Tech YouTuber Austin Evans opened one up last year to compare and found a cooling system that was little more than half a pound lighter than the one in the PS5’s launch models. Press Start noted that the disc version of the new PS5 model has a heft equivalent to the digital version of the 2020 launch PS5. The original CFI-10XX models weighed 4.5kg and 3.9kg, respectively.
Though demand has been unending, Sony has been doing its damndest to try to increase production of its still-rare console. In May, the company told shareholders it sold far fewer consoles than it wanted to due to supply shortages. The weight reduction could relate to efforts to defeat wait times on parts and chips.
This console model won’t be officially released until September 15, so nobody’s yet opened up these puppies to find out what Sony’s done to make its console less weighty. Knowing the techie penchant for roaring at the chance to see what’s going on under the hood, that likely won’t take too long.
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