It might not feel like it, but the PS5 console has been out for a couple of years now. It came out right after the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions started easing up. It was a turbulent time for the world, and the issues with semiconductor supplies made the PS5 almost impossible to find. In fact, the shortages lasted for more than a year.
The Sony PlayStation 5 came out in 2020
The release of the Sony PlayStation 5 took a long time. It was announced in April 2019, and it finally launched on November 12th, 2020. Even then it was only available in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, North America, and South Korea, and it was released to the rest of the world a week later.
The original PlayStation 5 shipped in two configurations: Both models feature a high-speed SSD, and AMD GPU capable of 120 fps 4K gaming. The flagship model shipped with a Blu-Ray disc drive, and it was launched at $499. A lower-cost, $399 model was shipped without a disk module, and the only way to play games was to download games from Sony’s PlayStation Store. Other than that, both models are identical. Unlike Xbox, Sony choose not to release a lower-specced, cheaper version.
The Sony PlayStation 5 Slim came out in 2023
Sony updated the PlayStation 5 with new models on 10th October 2023. Sony and other online retailers started shipping PlayStation 5 Slim models in November 2023, three years after the launch of the original.
The “Slim” is not a proper brand name anymore, like it used to be. Now, Sony just refers to it as PlayStation 5 (model - Slim). To avoid confusion, we will refer to it as PlayStation 5 Slim.
The new Slim models are also a replacement for the models Sony shipped in 2020, as they are now discontinued.
The basic specs are exactly the same, down to the processor, GPU, and gameplay experience. The only difference is the outside shell and the ports. The PS5 Slim is 30% smaller in volume, and 18% lighter. Given how huge the original PS5 was, these changes alone are quite welcome. There are now two USB-C ports at the front, and the power and disk eject buttons are placed quite farther apart this time, helping you avoid accidental taps.
But in the process of making the PS5 slimmer and lighter, Sony also ended up redesigning the shell. Now, it has a modular design, and the shell is separated in two vertical halves. This helped Sony create a system where someone who only got a PlayStation 5 Digital Edition can buy and add a disk unit later on (something that wasn’t possible before).
At launch, the PS5 Slim was bundled with Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3, or Spider-Man 2. The official price for an unbundled PS5 Slim is $499, but you can get a PS5 with a game at $499 on Amazon. The Digital edition now comes in at $449.99 (an increase of $50 over the previous model). Sony will sell the separate Blu-Ray drive for $79.99. Plus the PS5 Slim models have an actual, real, 1TB hard drive inside, instead of the 825GB models from the previous generation.
The PlayStation 5 Slim is available from PlayStation. You can also buy the PlayStation 5 Slim Disc, and PlayStation 5 Slim Digital Edition from Amazon.