The PlayStation 5 will support internal storage upgrades starting this summer, Bloomberg reported Friday, which should come as welcome news to players dealing with the rising file sizes and storage needs of AAA games.
Bloomberg cited unnamed sources who had been briefed on Sony’s plans. It’s an important step as external storage on the PS5 can only be used for PlayStation 4 games; PS5 games must be placed on the internal drive of the new console. About 667 GB of it is actually available to store games, apps, recordings and other content.
Bloomberg said that after the firmware update, players can simply remove the cover from the PS5 and install a new drive (compatible with the console’s hardware, of course). A Sony spokesperson told Bloomberg that the company was “in the process of enabling expansion of M.2 SSD storage for PlayStation 5,” but had no further details to share.
The Xbox Series X has a 1TB internal solid-state drive; the PlayStation 5’s is a custom 825 GB SSD. Xbox Series X (and Series S) owners can’t upgrade 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 a Series X, and Xbox One games optimized for the Series X can be installed on and run from the external drive. But native Xbox Series X games can only be run from the internal SSD; they can be moved to an unusable “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; however, it is $ 219.99.
The PlayStation 5 has none of these options. If a game is developed or optimized for PS5, it must be installed on the internal SSD. There is also no option for “cold storage”. And there is no own external memory card or stick, at any cost.
Bloomberg’s report also noted that the firmware update that enables storage expansion will also unlock faster speeds for the PS5’s cooling fan. Overall, the PS5 has been a quieter machine than the PS4, but apparently better airflow is needed to keep the device from running into overheating issues.