Sony finally announced many of the specific specs that the upcoming PlayStation 5 will have, and while it looks pretty similar to the Xbox Series X, there is one difference: the use of off-the-shelf solid-state drives to upgrade your console.
This means that should you wish to upgrade your storage for the console, you can take out the drive that comes with the console—an 825GB SSD—and you can purchase another drive to replace it with. The only catch is: it has to be compatible with the console.
Not every SSD that you buy will compatible with the console, and as of right now, there is not an official list of what SSDs will be compatible. This is why Sony is recommending that consumers hold off on buying one ahead of time; they recommend you wait until the console is released and more drives are proven to work.
While this means many of us will have to be patient to upgrade, it is a stark difference from Microsoft’s announced proprietary external drives that will work with their upcoming Xbox Series X. While Microsoft is keeping more control over the additional storage for their console, Sony seems to be leaving it open for more options for consumers.
The important thing for these third-party drives is to be able to maintain the amount of power the Playstation 5 will put out. With an AMD Zen 2 under the hood, the SSD will have to keep up with what the console and games need.
