Gaming

First technical details of PS6 leaked as Sony plot high-risk gamble

First technical details of PS6 leaked as Sony plot high-risk gamble
Sony's PS5 Pro: a Mid-Gen Powerhouse for Hardcore PlayStation Fans
Money Talks News / VideoElephant

The first technical details of the PS6 seem to have been leaked online and they point to Sony taking quite the risk in its approach to the next generation of gaming.

The PS5 Pro launched earlier in November and is PlayStation's mid-generation update to the PS5.

There has been speculation swirling that the PS6 could release as soon as 2026 or 2027, with Microsoft's new Xbox console planned for 2028, which may seem more likely to be in-keeping with that.

But technical details of the PS6 have already been leaked on a Chinese forum called Chiphell, reports Metro, which reveals Sony is also planning to release another handheld console.

It's not yet clear if this handheld console will be like the PS Portal (a remote player) or more like the PSP or PS Vita (a standalone handheld console) but this could be risky as PlayStation has flopped in this area before with the Vita.

Having said that, the PS Portal has been successful so far and Sony enjoyed success in its first foray into handheld gaming with the PSP.

Sony PlayStation 5 Pro (L) and PlayStation 5 Digital Edition (R) video game consoles are displayed during the Tokyo Game Show 2024 at Makuhari Messe on September 26, 2024 in Chiba, JapanSony PlayStation 5 Pro (L) and PlayStation 5 Digital Edition (R) video game consoles are displayed during the Tokyo Game Show 2024 at Makuhari Messe on September 26, 2024 in Chiba, JapanSony seems to be taking quite a risk with the next generation of gaming / Tomohiro Ohsumi, Getty Images

According to hardware leaker zhangzhonghao, a reputable insider on Chiphell, the PS6 console will use AMD's next generation UDNA architecture.

AMD is the company that has made the chips for PlayStation consoles since, and including, the PS4.

The GPU will be the successor to AMD's RDNA 4 and CDNA as it looks to combine these two - RDNA 4 is partly used for enhanced ray-tracing (how light behaves) in the PS5 Pro console.

zhangzhonghao claims Radeon RX 9000 series will also use the UDNA GPU, along with the MI400, with the graphics cards expected to enter mass production in the second half of 2026, suggesting an earliest release window of late 2026.

The leaker adds it's not yet been decided if the console's CPU will be Zen 4 or Zen 5 and that the next generation portable will also use AMD hardware.

This all comes after a report from Reuters in September revealed AMD beat Intel to the contract of making chips for the PS6 in 2022.

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