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With the PS4 Pro and Xbox One Ten firmly established in-marketplace, thoughts have already begun to turn towards what sort of console might exist coming in the non-as well-distant future. The PlayStation 4 lineup isn't very old by console standards — it'll be 5 this year — but one report suggests Sony is already sampling dev kits for the upcoming PlayStation 5.

That'southward the word from SemiAccurate, but almost of their story is behind a paywall. Information technology'southward been summarized elsewhere (whether it's been summarized accurately or not is impossible to determine) and it doesn't give the kind of specifications one might hope for. The PS5 would use AMD's upcoming Navi architecture as its baseline and be built around a custom Zen microprocessor, according to Resetera. Dev kits have supposedly been seeded in such numbers, the SemiAccurate writer believes a 2022 launch isn't out of the question, and there are supposedly VR "goodies" baked in at the silicon level.

Of all the ideas contained herein, the 1 genuinely odd one would be launching a console in later 2022. First, it's odd that Sony might consider this pace given that we've gotten no publicity — at this point in the PS4's hype bike, we already knew the console was coming later in 2022, fifty-fifty if we didn't know much else.

The example against the PS5 launching so soon is likewise easy to understand. When the PS4 debuted in 2022, 1 of the principal complaints from gamers was that information technology didn't offering enough of a visual upgrade compared with the PS3, despite the seven-year difference between them. Jumping for the PS5 at present, simply two years later the launch of the PS4 Pro (See on Amazon), would trigger the aforementioned kinds of complaints. That'south particularly truthful since nosotros oasis't fifty-fifty seen a unmarried major procedure node compress since the PS4 Pro debuted. Node shrinks evangelize libation operating temperatures and lower power consumption, which is the principle reason why the Xbox One X (Run into on Amazon) and PS4 Pro were able to pack in dramatically meliorate operation without driving dissonance, thermals, and power consumption into the stratosphere.

While it'south likely true that AMD's Zen tin can deliver better performance, than the company's depression-power Jaguar architecture, Zen is all the same a larger core than Jaguar was. Again, this is where process node shrinks come in handy, but the modest move to a refined 16/14nm node (12nm in marketing speak) probable doesn't give Sony all that much additional headroom. 2022 or 2022 seems like a much more than plausible target for a major console launch.

Backwards Compatibility Would Modify the Game

The only way it makes sense for Sony to launch a new major iteration of its game console this rapidly is if it intends to retain full backwards compatibility. There's no reason why it couldn't. Dissimilar previous console generations, which often made radical leaps from ane architecture to the next, maintaining x86 compatibility for an x86 application isn't a very large bargain. Similarly, maintaining GPU compatibility between the Polaris-class GPU within the PS4 Pro and a Navi-grade GPU within a hypothetical PS5 shouldn't be a major issue, either.

The larger question would be whether Sony wanted to follow the so-called "iPhone model" when it comes to maintaining backwards compatibility between console generations. It's ane thing to say that the PS4 must play every game the PS4 Pro plays, and something else to say the PS5 and PS4 Pro must play the same games. Gamers who knew the PS4 Pro and PS4 maintained compatibility would probably rightly expect that to continue to be the instance. Another alternative is maintaining backwards compatibility across the PS4 / PS5 generation, with the PS4 being targeted for lower resolutions and reduced visual avails. This would also work, but inject still more complexity for developers and might wearisome down sales of the new platform, since gamers would presumably choose to stick with hardware they already own. All of this can be avoided if the PS5 can play PS4 games but not vice-versa, and that'south the road nosotros'd expect Sony to accept.

The culling would see Sony leave people to buy a brand new console in the shortest window between launches in the modern generation, at a time when it's going to confront a challenging endeavor in delivering higher performance without using a larger chassis or higher-cease power supply. And let'southward face it — what reason does Sony have to try and steal a march on Microsoft? The PS4 has outsold the Xbox One by more than ii-to-one. Commencement mover advantage doesn't e'er piece of work out that way — just inquire Nintendo about the Wii U — and Sony doesn't need to launch a quick Hail Mary to reestablish themselves at the meridian of the marketplace.

We're not saying that Sony couldn't launch a new console this year or in 2022. Merely we'd be very surprised if information technology did without some class of backwards compatibility with the PS4 generation.