Sony is releasing a new PS5 console, but it's a downgrade

Sony is slated to release a new PS5 Slim All-Digital console, but reports indicate that it will be slightly different than previous releases.

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The PlayStation 5 was launched in 2020, and since then, Sony's console has gone through various hardware revisions under the moniker of "chassis". Each of these revisions introduced new improvements to the console, typically in the form of better cooling and power efficiency. Notably, the first-generation PS5, nicknamed the "Fat" PS5, had three chassis versions following it, then in November 2023, Sony officially introduced the first PS5 Slim with the launch of Chassis D.

As with every other Slim PlayStation before it, the PS5 Slim was a significant reduction in size and also introduced the 1TB SSD, a step up from the 825GB within the "Fat" PS5 models. The new 1TB standard was applied to both the digital and standard edition consoles.

In June 2025, certification documents from a Japanese regulatory authority stated that Sony was preparing a successor to the Chassis D model (CFI-2000). This new Chassis E model, called CFI-2100, reportedly doesn't have any major design differentials, but is instead intended to be an optimization on production costs for Sony's end.

It appears Sony is responding to the rising production costs of the console in the US by releasing a new model, which is slated to feature an 825GB SSD instead of the standard 1TB for the digital PS5 Slim. Notably, this reduction is only to the digital edition of the console, the PS5 Slim Standard that features a disc drive, which is also based on Chassis E, will keep its 1TB SSD.

So far, reports indicate this nerfed PS5 Slim Digital Edition is headed to Europe, with no word on what is going to happen with other regions around the world.