The PS5 Pro, Sony’s mid-gen refresh for its multi-million-selling ninth-generation console, isn’t even a year old, and rumors have circulated about the PlayStation 6. Kepler, who correctly leaked details about the Pro’s usage of unreleased RDNA 4 features, revealed in September 2024 that the PS6 would have two SoCs.
It’s assumed that one would be a portable handheld, and evidence is seemingly mounting about its performance. Regarding whether it would be as powerful as a PS5 if launched by 2028, Kepler recently responded on NeoGAF, “No, it’s a 15W SoC on 3nm.”
Naturally, this resulted in several follow-up questions, including the point of the console if it can’t run PS5 games. The leaker clarified that it definitely can, but “not at the same resolution/FPS, mainly due to lower memory bandwidth.”
When asked if the performance is between the PS4 Pro and PS5, the leaker responded, “Hard to estimate performance since it’s using an unreleased GPU uarch, but I think it’s somewhere between Xbox Series S and PS5.” Interestingly, the alleged handheld “tapes out” a few months after the regular PS6’s SoC.
However, Sony isn’t repurposing existing PS6 chips for the handheld by having less usable CUs. “They’re different SoCs,” said Kepler and the portable is “specially designed to run at very, very low voltages.” They clarified that its CUs are a “lot less than 40” and that it’s a “different SoC” despite sharing “a few things with Soundwave.”
Sony hasn’t provided a timeline for the PS6’s launch, though Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Hideaki Nishino has indicated that it won’t be affected by the PS5’s lifecycle.
