PS4 Slim release date, news and rumors

PS4 Slim

It's coming. In just a few hours time at the PlayStation Meeting we'll finally get confirmation that the PS4 Slim, which has literally already been reviewed online, actually exists and will be purchasable soon.

The console is expected to be announced alongside the PlayStation Neo, which will be the Project Scorpio to the PS4 Slim's Xbox One S, and should be a slim version of the existing PS4 rather than a substantial hardware upgrade.

Whereas the Neo is expected to offer 4K output and more beefy internals, the PS4 Slim is expected to be a much more traditional slim console upgrade like those seen by all previous PlayStations.

We would have previously said that this was shaping up to be a pretty standard console upgrade were it not for the recent arrival of the Xbox One S, a slim version of the Xbox One that adds an Ultra HD Blu-ray player, HDR, and 4K upscaling to the console.

Microsoft has raised the bar for what we should expect from a slim console, and it remains to be seen whether Sony can match it.

A post-Xbox One S world

But that's not all, a recent analysis performed by the folks at Digital Foundry has shown that the souped up internals of the new Xbox console lead to some helpful boosts in game framerates.

It's not a massive leap, but in several cases Microsoft's new hardware is much better at keeping to each game's frame-cap than its predecessor.

With the Xbox One S, Microsoft has significantly changed what people will expect from a console's hardware refresh, which raises significant questions about what Sony will pack into its PS4 Slim.

Unfortunately however, as a full review of the unannounced console posted by LetsPlayVideoGames has revealed that the PS4 Slim contains none of the upscaling technology features in the Xbox One S.

What this means is the console is looking to be a pretty traditional slim console upgrade. That might have been fine a year ago, but since then the Xbox One S has significantly raised the bar for slim consoles, and the PS4 Slim might struggle to compete.

PS4 Slim Appearance

Thanks to a series of images unearthed by NeoGaf, as well as an unboxing video that has since been removed from YouTube, we have a pretty good idea of what the PS4 Slim is going to look like.

The PS4 Slim borrows many design cues such as the slanted front and back from its bigger brother, but the biggest change is its size.

PS4 Slim

From the pictures the PS4 Slim is significantly, well, slimmer, than its predecessor, and it's also cut a few centimeters off of its width and depth.

The console can be positioned either horizontally or vertically using a stand that is sold separately.

The only other physical change to the console itself is a change to how the hard drive replacement procedure works. The Slim's hard drive can be removed with just a single screw, thanks to the fact that the external plastic housing can be taken off by hand.

PS4 Slim

PS4 Slim connectors

The PS4 Slim has most of the same connectors as the standard PS4. It has a power port, accessory port, HDMI out and Ethernet port.

Interestingly the new console forgoes the optical port found on the standard PS4, which is a shame for anyone who relies on this port to provide audio output.

PS4 Slim Back

According to a leaked scan of what PS4Daily claims is the console's manual, we've also been lead to believe that the PS4 Slim will support 5GHz Wi-Fi in addition to the standard 2.4GHz frequency band.

This standard offers faster performance over 2.4GHz, but at a slightly reduced range.

PS4 Slim Controller

The initial leak gave us a good look at the console itself, but it was light on details of the controller. However the YouTube channel ZRZ was able to later post a video which gave us a good look at the controller.

PS4 Slim Controller

Though the video has since been removed, screenshots of it have been widely circulated online. It appears to have seen a minor change in the form of the addition of a small transparent strip to the front of the controller which allows the existing front-facing light to shine through.

What's also changed is that if you connect the controller to your console via USB, the controller will now be able to communicate over that wired connection, which should reduce latency.

Finally the d-pad has been altered slightly. LetsPlayVideoGames reports that it feels as though it slopes down towards its center more, providing a central dip for you to rest your thumb in.

PS4 Slim Release Date

Given that we had heard nor seen anything about the slim PlayStation 4 until recently, we would have previously assumed that a launch this year would have been out of the question.

But what we've seen so far suggests that the console is pretty far along in development. We've seen a working console, and there even appears to be a retail box that people have managed to get their hands on.

PS4 Slim Box

Given that the console appears to be essentially ready for store shelves we wouldn't be surprised if it was available to consumers before the end of the year. This is just our guess though, so make sure you take it with a pinch of salt.

PS4 Slim Price

At the moment little is known about the PS4 Slim's price.

Sony's previous slim console versions have each been sold at a reduced price compared to the original console.

After all, as time goes on the various components used to make each console will inevitably come down in price, and Moore's law will allow the various chips to be manufactured more easily and cheaply.

Given that the 500GB of the PS4 currently retails for around $350 / £250 / AU$400, we'd expect the PS4 Slim to at least meet this price.

Conclusion: Lots of questions, relatively few answers

At the time of writing Sony hasn't yet confirmed the existence of the slim console, so we don't yet have any clear idea what form the console will take.

All we know for sure is that a PS4 Slim is coming.

Sony has an event scheduled for September 7 which was previously expected to be the venue for the announcement of the PlayStation Neo, but we wouldn't be surprised if Sony plans to announce the Slim in addition to its beefier 4K brother.

Until that happens we'll continue to update this page with all the latest info.