from geek.com/ga...24099/

 

 

It looks like Sony is planning the launch of a new model of the PS4 based on a certification filing by the FCC. The main difference between the new and old machines is the inclusion of a 1TB hard drive.

Soon after the launch of the PS4 in November 2013 gamers were filling up the 500GB hard drive Sony decided to ship. That’s not too surprising when you consider a typical digital download PS4 game comes in at 40GB+. Ten games and you’re pretty much out of space.

As you can see in the listing below taken from the FCC filing, there are two models of the PS4 being certified. The first is the revised 500GB CUH-1215A, but there’s also a CUH-1215B, which lists a 1TB hard drive.

Beyond that, no other changes can be discerned from the certification. Both consoles are rated at 230W based on their labels, suggesting Sony hasn’t done much to the internals of the machine. Typically, slim editions of a console aren’t just smaller, they use significantly less power due to major component optimizations. This looks like it may be just an update to offer more storage. However, the NeoGAF discussion suggests current PS4 models are rated at 250W and 300 grams heavier, so some minor hardware optimizations look to have taken place. Could we be getting cooler-running PS4s?

If this is just a hard drive upgrade, then I expect Sony won’t charge any more for the console. In fact, if Sony combines a move to a 1TB hard drive as standard with a price cut, they’d be on to a sales winner. Alternatively, we could see the 1TB model offered at $399 and the 500GB model at $349. As for when we’ll find out about this new model, E3 two weeks from now seems the most likely time for Sony to announce it.

It would have been nice to see Sony jump straight to a 2TB drive, but then the costing probably didn’t make sense. Sony can easily absorb the extra cost of a 1TB drive over that of a 500GB unit, but the jump to 2TB would have been difficult without a price rise. And if you really want or need 2TB, you can always perform the upgrade yourself.