PlayStation 5 release date, specs, price: How SSD will change gaming experience

PlayStation 5 is Sony’s next-generation console, so for it to have the best hardware components ever seen in the gaming industry is not much of a surprise. However, the company singled out the addition of the solid-state drive (SSD) for storage as the one factor that will allow fans to experience the promised next-level gaming.

Storage drives are not only important for its memory capacity. The introduction of SSD proved that faster processing of data is another important aspect of modern computers, especially on gaming rigs. And recently, Sony implied that the type of SSD included in PlayStation 5 is an even better version than those found on PCs.

PlayStation 5 specs: Next-generation gaming through SSD

Earlier this year, Sony confirmed PlayStation 5 is in the pipeline through the company’s lead system architect, Mark Cerny. He revealed basic details on the core specs of PlayStation 5 and demonstrated to Wired how using SSD-equipped consoles differs even to their best gaming platform at the moment.

Having an SSD on a console means players will spend much less time staring at loading screens. However, what Sony promises with PlayStation 5 is beyond that. To prove his point, he used Insomniac’s “Spider-Man” to demonstrate the difference in running the game on a PS4 Pro and a PlayStation 5 devkit. A fast travel sequence reportedly went from 15 seconds to 0.8 seconds.

Sony wants to remain mysterious about the specifics of the SSD it will use on PlayStation 5. But it is reportedly going to have heftier bandwidth compared to any SSD on PCs.

PlayStation 5 specs, price: What to expect

SSD is not the only promising component confirmed to be on PlayStation 5. Cerny also announced (what some information leaks have previously revealed) that the upcoming console will be powered by a 7nm Zen architecture CPU and Radeon Navi-based specializing on ray tracing both from AMD.

PlayStation 5 will support backward compatibility for games released on PS4, and its CPU will also allow 3D audio. And while the sales of digital game copies have greatly gone up over the years, the next-generation console will still support physical media.

Sony maintains secrecy over the release date of PlayStation 5, but many are anticipating for it to arrive in stores in late 2020. Likewise, its price tag is still under wraps. But with the mentioned high-end components, it would be witless not to expect a substantial price increase.