Sony reportedly looking at cutting PlayStation 6 memory to keep costs down

Sony's PlayStation 6 is on the horizon. Still, with the memory and storage crisis set to affect all consumer technology for the foreseeable future, the company's executives are unsure of the next-gen console's launch timing. This uncertainty could pave the way for concessions on the hardware side, as costs for the PS6's custom next-gen AMD hardware continue to rise.

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Renowned insider and leaker, KeplerL2, who has previously leaked specs for the upcoming PlayStation 6 console, notes that a reasonable cutback could see Sony drop the planned 30 or 32GB of GDDR7 memory to 24GB of VRAM on a slower 128-bit bus. According to KeplerL2 (via NeoGAF), this move would save the company around $60 in BOM costs per PlayStation 6 console and would be a "reasonable" choice, as it wouldn't require reworking the PS6's custom AMD SoC beyond disabling a single memory controller.

24GB of VRAM still represents notably more capacity than the PlayStation 5's 16GB of unified memory. It would allow more complex rendering, such as ray tracing and path tracing, to run without bottlenecks. The other bonus for going the 24GB route, as KeplerL2 notes, is "a yield boost for the SoC by being able to harvest MC (memory controller) defects."

This means that chips that would otherwise not make the cut could then be used to produce more PlayStation 6 consoles, saving Sony even more money. The fact that this is even a point of discussion is alarming and highlights just how difficult it is for companies to release cutting-edge gaming hardware right now. Either way, the PlayStation 6 is still expected to launch at a much higher price than the PS5, with or without hardware concessions.