Sony's PS5 Is Rumored To Finally Enable SSD Expansion Later This Year
Some people saw this as a liability compared to the Xbox Series X, which comes with a slightly larger 1TB SSD (802GB useable), but Sony has one critical advantage. The PlayStation 5 can expand its storage via an open M.2 slot inside the console, and better yet, it can use a garden variety PCIe 4.0 SSD. However, Sony didn't enable this functionality at launch and has been mum about the timeline for allowing customers to use their own SSDs.
A new report from Bloomberg says that Sony will finally enable the internal M.2 slot over the summer via a firmware update. The information comes from people that were "briefed on the plan," according to the report.
Per Sony's previous comments, third-party SSDs must be certified to work in the PlayStation 5 and will need to deliver read speeds of at least 5.5GB/sec. One currently available SSD that supports those speeds is the Samsung 980 Pro, which we recently reviewed. It offers read speeds of up to 7,000 MB/sec, which is well above the minimum threshold that Sony specifies. Prices range from $89.99 for the 250GB to $399.99 for 2TB (the cost of an entire PlayStation 5 Digital Edition).
- Samsung 980 Pro 250GB $89.99 @ Amazon
- Samsung 980 Pro 500GB $128.61 @ Amazon
- Samsung 980 Pro 1TB $229.26 @ Amazon
- Samsung 980 Pro 2TB $399.99 @ Amazon
Increasing the storage capacity of PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X will likely become an issue relatively soon, as games like the Call of Duty series are already busting through the storage limits of the 500GB PlayStation 4.
