The PlayStation 5 will support internal storage updates starting this summer, Bloomberg said on Friday, which should be good news for players dealing with AAA game file sizes and storage demands.
Bloomberg cited unidentified sources who were informed of Sony’s plans. It is an important step, because the external storage on the PS5 can only be used for PlayStation 4 games; PS5 games should go to the new console’s internal drive. About 667 GB of it is actually available to store games, applications, screenshots and other content.
Bloomberg said that after the firmware update, players can simply remove the PS5 cover and install a new drive (compatible with the console’s hardware, of course). A Sony spokesman told Bloomberg that the company was “working to enable the expansion of SSD M.2 storage for the PlayStation 5”, but had no further details to share.
The Xbox Series X has an internal 1 TB solid state drive; the PlayStation 5 is a custom 825 GB SSD. Xbox Series X (and Series S) owners cannot update their internal storage, but they have more options than a PS5 owner currently has.
An external USB 3.1 drive can be used to play Xbox One and older games on an X Series, and Xbox One games that have been optimized for the X Series can be installed and run from the external drive. But native Xbox X series games can only be played on the internal SSD; they can be moved to inoperative “cold storage” on an external drive to free up space. There is also an external SSD memory card for Xbox Series X that adds another terabyte of storage and fully supports the latest games; it’s $ 219.99 though.
The PlayStation 5 has none of these options. If a game was developed or optimized for PS5, it must be installed on the internal SSD. There is also no “cold storage” option. And there is no proprietary external memory card or stick, at any price.
The Bloomberg report also noted that updating the firmware allowing for storage expansion will also unlock higher speeds for the PS5’s cooling fan. Overall, the PS5 has been a quieter machine than the PS4, but of course better airflow is needed to prevent the unit from experiencing overheating problems.