PS4 Neo - specs, price & release date rumours for the PS4.5

Sony's gearing up to release a new PlayStation that will tear up the long-established rulebook for console gaming. The new hardware won’t be a proper ‘PlayStation 5’ but instead an update to the current PlayStation 4. Currently codenamed the PlayStation Neo, it’s more commonly referred to as the PS4K, PS4 Neo or even the PS4.5.

Some details of the new hardware are now widely accepted, as game developers have started working on making their titles compatible with the updated console. This has caused a pretty good stream of information about the new console to come to light, and we’ll sum up all the details we know here.

What is the PlayStation Neo?

Put simply, Sony is releasing a new, more powerful version of the PlayStation 4 console. The new console will have greater graphics and processing capabilities, allowing for better-looking games, smoother frame rates and a superior VR experience with PlayStation VR.

So why isn’t this the PlayStation 5? Well, it will run the same software for starters, with all new PS4 games having to work on both the PS4 and the Neo, while many existing games will be updated to take advantage of the newer hardware. There won’t be any Neo-only titles in the foreseeable future. It will use the same controller and accessories as well, so no new updates there. We’d also expect it to use essentially the same onscreen interface.

Why is the Neo truly groundbreaking?

Consoles don’t usually get more powerful versions within their lifespans. Instead, any fiddling is usually limited to making a slimlined version that can be manufactured for less, much like the PS3 Slim - and there’s a number of very good reasons for that.

The single hardware specification means that developers can push to get the most from it, learning more and more tricks and slowly improving the quality of games over the hardware’s lifecycle. That’s why the final Xbox 360 games look so much better than earlier releases, for instance.

The second main reason is money. Developing a games console has traditionally been an expensive and time-consuming gamble. The fortunes of Microsoft, Sony and, of course, Nintendo (and let’s not forget Sega) have soared and crashed from generation to generation, so when you’ve got a winner you stick with it. Most of the money from a console’s lifespan is made at the back end, when the installed userbase is huge and the hardware can be made cheaply - as it’s often 6 years old or more by then.

Finally, any new hardware means more work. Publishers like to make a game for as many potential customers as possible, with the minimum of fuss, as that’s how they make money. Anything that’s more work for them isn’t a popular move. Previous efforts, such as the Megadrive’s 32X actually split the user base, with only a tiny number of people who bought the upgradeable to play the new games - it failed immediately.

^ Thankfully the new PlayStation Neo looks far better thought through than the terrible 32X

So what’s changed?

There are numerous reasons why Sony is attempting to release the ‘PS4.5’ now. For starters, it’s far easier now than it ever has been in the past. This is because the PS4 is based on PC architecture hardware and so can be evolved while still providing straightforward backwards compatibility to the existing PS4. Software development tools are also far superior, with cross-platform development being the norm and graphics engines able to cope with a wide range of hardware - from mobile devices to gaming PC goliaths.

Secondly, the current PS4 will likely struggle to deliver highly-detailed environments for the PlayStation VR at the requisite frame rates. VR is very graphically intensive and more processing power would allow for games that look more like those we play on our TVs today.

Finally, graphics hardware has been in a bit of a rut over the last few years, with the industry struggling to move to the next fabrication process in order to deliver better graphics without a big hike in power consumption and temperature. That technical hurdle has now been made, with AMD ready to start producing next-gen ‘Polaris’ parts. It’s these much smaller graphics parts, see below, that will feature in the Neo.

Another thing to consider is that technology has changed. Apple and the mobile phone industry has shown that you can release new hardware on a regular basis and that your most devoted customers will buy it, even at relatively high prices. Sony is leading the current console generation in terms of sales - it doesn’t need to strike back at Microsoft - so the new console must be marketed to increase its dominance and turn a healthy profit.

PlayStation Neo specifications

Leaked documents from developers point to a games console with radically more powerful graphics hardware than the current PS4, with a significant bump to processing power as well. The table below summarises the differences between the two:

Don’t speak hardware? Then here’s a quick summary. The CPU isn’t a lot more powerful than before. That’s largely because the console will be running the same games as the PS4 and while the graphics will be shinier, the size of the game worlds, the AI, the audio and everything else that goes into a game will be largely identical, so CPU load shouldn’t be radically higher.

The graphics, on the other hand, are far more beefy. AMD’s new hardware will provide a huge leap in performance without requiring a huge chassis and massive cooling, as with current gaming PCs. Current 30fps PS4 games should now run at 60fps easily, often with additional graphics effects and superior anti-aliasing. Alternatively, games could be run be run at a higher resolution to make the most of 4K TVs.

I’m still not convinced that most PS4 games with their highly-detailed worlds would run at a native 4K resolution on this hardware - though it will undoubtedly be possible with some indie titles. It may come close, though, with upscaling picking up the slack in the same way that many Xbox One titles run at 1440x920 and are upscaled to Full HD.

At present, there’s nothing in the specification to suggest a 4K Blu-ray drive will be included to support Ultra HD movies. However, it would be easy to add nearer launch if the price was right and the new format was proving successful. However, Sony was stung by the early inclusion of Blu-ray in the PS3 (which pushed up prices and limited supply) and I'd be surprised if it hamstrung its gaming console again for movie buffs. That said, that doesn't mean we need to rule out the inclusion of HDMI 2.0 ports for higher resolution support, or the ability to output 4K from streaming video services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.

^ At present 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray support looks to missing from the new device

Release date and price

Frankly, no one knows when the PS4 Neo will launch, but it will either be late this year or early next year. All new PS4 games from October onwards will have to be compatible with the new Neo, though that doesn’t necessarily mean the console will launch then. The main sticking point is that Sony already has the PlayStation VR headset coming out in October this year. By releasing the PlayStation Neo at the same time it will only end up competing with itself for PlayStation fans’ cash.

And that brings us around to price. Again, we can only speculate on this as well. The PS4 launched at £350 three years ago this November. Since then, the RRP has only dropped to £300, with consoles widely available for around £260 online. There would need to be a significant price gap between the two, of course.

Our thinking is that the PS4 will drop to £250 RRP, actually selling around £220 with a game, while the Neo will hopefully come in at £350 or £400. That might sound cheap to some, but then it may not be bundled with a controller at that price (as most people upgrading will probably already have one), helping to keep prices down.

Pure speculation, of course, but surely any price over £400 for a console that essentially plays the same games would be an incredibly risky move. Sony is already taking a big risk in potentially confusing and angering consumers, so it will likely play it safe when it comes to pricing.