Earlier this year, rumors and speculation began to make internet rounds that Sony was preparing to release an upgraded version of its PlayStation 4 console. The hardware was strangely absent at this year’s software-centric E3 conference in June, but now documents have leaked to the web that seem to confirm the project’s existence, detailing the console’s specifications, market plans, and more.
A 42-page document has recently been published online, and it seems quite legitimate and most likely came from inside Sony. The document explains in very specific detail how Sony is considering the PlayStation 4 Neo and its future role in the videogame market.
There is not anything new or surprising detailed in the document, as it pretty much confirms what was expected in the PlayStation Neo. The document does, however, go into many technical aspects, and It seems as though that these documents were the basis for previous accurate leaks and rumors.
PlayStation 4 Neo to have improved specifications
The PlayStation 4 Neo is being designed as a high-end version of Sony’s console, with its market being those that use 4K televisions whilst gaming, looking for the best-possible graphical quality out of their consoles. Additionally, the Neo is designed to function perfectly with the company’s upcoming PlayStation VR hardware. The documents reiterate how the PlayStation 4 Neo will also bring gaming improvements to those gaming with a “regular” 1080p display by being able to handle higher quality graphics and improved frame rates.
Reports suggest that the PlayStation 4 Neo will feature the same 8GB GDDR5 memory, however this time with a higher bandwidth of 218 gigabits per second. Additionally, the upcoming game console will have 8 Jaguar cores at 3.1 gigahertz, which makes it around 1.3 times faster than the original PlayStation 4 platform.
Moreover, the leaked documents suggest that the PlayStation 4 Neo will have faster speed compare to the original console due to its 2.1 GHz processing speed against the PlayStation 4’s 1.6 GHz. Furthermore, the new console is expected to have a larger memory capacity and external storage options as compared to the original.
The more significant upgrade will be the GPU. According to one of the slides, the PlayStation 4 Neo will use an improved version of AMD’s GCN compute units (CUs), with twice the number of CUs at 36 instead of 18. They will also be clocked faster – 911 MHz versus 800 MHz. The net result is a 2.3 times improvement in FLOPs.
Sony to release Neo this holiday season?
There are a few different interesting pieces of information included in the slideshow, allowing for a deeper understanding of what plans Sony has for the console. According to one of the slides, Sony is accepting submissions for PlayStation 4 Neo games in mid-August this year, for a Holiday 2016 release date. This suggests that the PlayStation 4 Neo console will be released in time for this year’s holiday season.
Additionally, the leaked documents suggest that games launching in September of this year will be able to patched for PS4 Neo’s Day 1, while everything else released after that point will be required to be PS4 Neo ready from the beginning. While this doesn’t affect gamers at all, it gives us a glimpse as to how Sony is working behind the scenes to make its new console a success on launch day.
You can find Sony’s full leaked Powerpoint presentation here.
