Sony has reportedly scheduled September 7 as the day it is going to unveil its latest version of the PlayStation 4. However, it is highly likely that the world of technology will be focused on another event also supposedly on that date, so many could miss what could be a genuinely enthralling event. Also it is being reported that Sony will unveil not one, but two new PlayStation 4 variants on that date: a PS4 Slim and the much talked-about PlayStation 4 Neo.
Two new PlayStation 4 consoles
A report in the The Wall Street Journal suggests that Sony will unveil both new consoles in September. The PS4 Slim is expected to be a lighter, slimmer version of the top-selling device and will replace the already-discontinued original version. Many have been waiting and talking about its counterpart, the PlayStation Neo, for some time now and as such are very excited to see what extra information Sony will reveal.
Sony did not mention the Slim version of the PS4 in June. Instead, it focused on the PS4 Neo. Macquarie Securities analyst Damian Thong told The Wall Street Journal that this new replacement standard model will be slimmer, lighter and less expensive, probably priced at less than $350, which would put it in direct competition with the Xbox One S from Microsoft.
If you don’t believe this report, take a look at the picture above. It seems to confirm what is said in the WSJ report. These images were originally seen in an online auction but have since been removed. From the images above, it is clear to see that the PlayStation 4 Slim has a matte black finish, and the picture of the box shows a 500GB storage capacity.
PlayStation 4 Slim compared to original PS4
In the image above, you can see the PS4 Slim being compared in size to the original PS4. Side-by-side, it is clear to see that the PS4 Slim is nearly 50% the size of the first console. While Sony has enjoyed some great success with the PlayStation range of consoles, it seems that consoles and games for it are only part of its future gaming plans.
The company recently announced that it will be following in the footsteps of Nintendo and will produce games for mobile devices running on both Android and iOS, but only for the Asian market, to begin with.
PlayStation 4 Slim video
According to a recent report on the EuroGamer website, it sent one of its reporters to the home of the person who claimed to have purchased a PS4 Slim on GumTree in a bid to confirm the authenticity of the images that have been leaked online. While at the home of the purchaser, the console was booted up, and the reporter can confirm that it was indeed a PS4 Slim.
PS4 Slim specs
I’m sorry to say that, at this moment there are no specs to talk about as Sony has not released any information about the console. Until it does, the console can only be considered to be a rumor even though we have seen images.
PlayStation Neo
While there may be some excitement about the PS4 Slim, surely the anticipation for Sony fans has to be reserved for the long-awaited PlayStation Neo announcement. After all, Sony neglected even to mention it at E3 earlier in the year. So the majority of what is known about the console is rumor-led, and fans just want some cold hard facts.
Concerning price, nothing has been leaked that could be considered to be convincing. The last leak I read suggested that something higher than $350 should be expected.
As for specs, eight 2.1 AMD Jaguar cores are expected to power the console, and the GPU is rumored to be a Radeon unit running at 911Mhz. According to rumor, the RAM is going to be the same 8GB seen on the first PS4, but it will be tweaked to run at 218GB/s rather than 176GB/s as seen on the previous console.
Virtual reality
The biggest and most exciting part of the PlayStation Neo for me is its compatibility with VR games. Sony is expected to launch its PlayStation VR headset in October, and offering better compatibility with it seems to be one of the main reasons Sony worked on the Neo in the first place. So watch this space because Sony could be about to rule the world of VR console gaming.
Here is a chart with the rumored PlayStation 4 specifications and how they compare to the rumored specs of the PS4 Neo.
Do you have anything to say about the PS4 Slim or Neo? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
