Sony's rumored plan to "downgrade" PS5 performance might actually be genius — here's why
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Worried about those PlayStation performance downgrade rumors? Things aren't quite as grim as they appear.
Last week, reports surfaced that Sony is briefing developers on a new "low energy" mode for the PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Pro consoles. While these rumors do appear a bit concerning for the future of Sony consoles, they could actually hint at the upcoming PlayStation 6 handheld.
As we've previously reported, the PlayStation 6 is rumored to come in a home console and a handheld variant.
Thanks to the initial report from Moore's Law is Dead and follow-up comments by veteran AMD leaker KeplerL2, we now know more about the AMD APU that will be powering the rumored PlayStation handheld. And it looks more cutting-edge than expected.
But don't just take my word for it. Here are the PS6 handheld specs we know so far.
The PlayStation handheld will be powered by an upcoming AMD APU that will have AI upscaling features, with 16GB of DDR5 onboard memory, and 4MB of L2 cache and 16MB of MALL cache on the APU's graphics tile.
The unnamed AMD APU will allegedly be based on the gfx13 (RDNA5/UDNA) architecture.
"But, Madeline", you ask, "what does that actually mean?"
AMD's current-gen Radeon RX 9000 GPUs use RDNA 4 graphics architecture. The PlayStation 6 APU's use of the next generation of AMD architecture aligns well with the console's expected launch date in fall 2027.
The AMD APU powering the current gen of PlayStation consoles (PS5 and PS5 Pro) has 4MB of L2 cache, but no MALL cache.
So, even with a constrained 16GB of memory bandwidth, the PS6 handheld would have additional graphics power, thanks to the 16MB MALL cache, which can reduce the need for a large memory bandwidth on a GPU. Essentially, it gives the PlayStation handheld more leverage over its lower RAM specs.
Based on these initial specs, it does not appear that the PS6 handheld will be powered by AMD's recently updated Ryzen AI Z2 lineup. Instead, this will likely be a next-gen chipset.
Earlier reports pegged the PlayStation and Xbox "Gen 10" launch to 2028, though new rumors have moved that timeline up. Currently, the PlayStation 6 console is expected to launch in September 2027.
The alleged PlayStation handheld is expected to launch in tandem with the home console.
Of course, none of this is confirmed, and we're over two years from the expected launch date, so plans can always change.
Sony could even go the same route as Microsoft and cancel its plans for a proprietary handheld console.
However, Sony is far less likely to work with a PC manufacturer like Asus on a Windows handheld, so there is a higher chance that Sony will come out with a proper handheld console.
It wouldn't be the first Sony handheld by far, after all.
PlayStation fans can only dream — I hit 316 fps in 'Stellar Blade' on my RTX 5090 laptop
I used the Asus ROG Strix G16 for a week, and it may be the best value in gaming laptops right now
Should the new Maingear Ultima 18 laptop replace your gaming desktop? Just look at the specs.
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