Rumor: PS5 announcement coming mid 2019 and more info at PSX 2019

[EricHiggin]

KBG29 said: 

EricHiggin said:

I've been pondering this too. PS5 is doable, but there seems to be too much question about what the right direction to take is and what the launch price should be. GDDR6 will even be quite new since Nvidia cards just launched with it. GDDR5 was first seen on ATI (AMD) cards in 2008, and consoles didn't see it until 2013, and only for PS4. CPU and GPU wouldn't really be an issue at all though. For the next couple of years, some tech will be transitioning at a time that isn't really beneficial to a console generational transition.

PS did say they were going to crouch down once more before they grow after fiscal 2020 (March 2021). This could mean another process shrink so PS4 28nm-> PS4+Pro 16nm-> PS4+Pro 4k 10nm. Launch a PS4 SS and a new Pro 4K. Spec it at 6-8TF, 12-16GB GDDR5, 8 custom advanced jaguar cores at around 2.5GHz, with a 2TB HDD, and price it at $399 again. A 4k/30 console quite similar to the XB1X to directly compete for another 2 or 3 years before next gen drops.

The problem I see with this, is it will make marketing the PS5 even tougher because if Pro 4k can typically hit full 4k, then PS5 would have to rely much more on things like 60fps and ray tracing. Unless they push for 5k or something like that. This would allow PS5 to launch holiday 2021 or later and would make the next hardware leap a much more straightforward decision. With the XB typical 4 year cycle, that would mean a 2021 launch for Scarlet as well. It would basically be a 'year early' for PS5 but PS could then definitely price it at $499 and make it a worthy jump for the loyalists and spec heads.

With the 'year of radio silence' coming up, it makes me think there's little chance they could be planning on extending this gen beyond 2020, unless they have a handful of games they are building up to announce alongside another PS4 upgrade. Pro did skip e3 though and was announced later in 2016, so why deviate for a Pro 4k reveal in 2019?

I have no doubt PS4 Super Slim and PS4 Pro Slim are coming next year with 7nm APUs. I think it is unlikely that they do anything major with them though. Super Slim may have 4K media capabilities, just to keep it relevent, as it will basically be competeting with Amazon Fire TV, Roku 4K, Nvidia Shield, and AppleTV at the $149.99 - $199.99 price point. Otherwise, I just see them as smaller, cheaper versions of the current consoles, to reach a wider audience, and maintain PS4 sales well into the PS5 life cycle.

If they do end up making the Pro Slim a true 4K PS4, then I would be pretty excited though. I think a 4K PS4 in 2019 on 7nm, followed by PS5 on 7nm+ in 2021 would be the ultimate play. Best of both worlds, PS4 finishes strong, while PS5 brings full next gen tech all around. 

I'm not going to count on that though. I think it is just slimmed down PS4 and PS4 Pro for 2019, with PS5 in 2020. Hopefully, a PS5 that digs deep to and delivers a forward looking design, even if Sony has to eat a little cost for the first 12 - 18 months.

That could be another way to look at the crouch down once more before growing after March 2021. If they just go with PS4 SS and Pro S, and also launch PS5 late 2019 or early 2020, if they are going to implement some of the tech that's being talked about here, it will probably mean more than just a tiny subsidy, which may put them in the red for PS5 for the first year. To put it simply, if they create a $500 console, and launch it at $399, that's anticipated to drop in price fairly quickly, they can hopefully get the cost down $50 to $100 by 2021, and break even at that point, so no more losses and only gains from then on.

That would work too, but I think PS5 would still be seen as a next gen console that really wasn't quite next gen. A 'next gen ready' edition you could almost call it. The Pro model down the road would be able to implement everything fully and see the greatest benefits, which could possibly lead to more people waiting to jump into next gen, or more people willing to upgrade, which could end up meaning a more even ratio than the 5 to 1 that exists now. In order for PS5 to fully fit next gen around 2020, I'd assume they would need to aim for $600 and sell it for $499, but that would mean holding that retail price for years, or continuing that $100 subsidy, at least until they hit $399 retail, then they could hold for quite a while.