New PS5 hardware won't be compatible with previous models, says insider

According to prominent games industry insider Tom Henderson, a new PS5 model is currently in the works, but its main new feature won’t be backwards compatible with the existing consoles.

Last year, Henderson claimed (via Insider Gaming) that a new PS5 is set to release sometime around September 2023. Reportedly, although the console will share the same hardware as the existing ones on the market, it’ll come with a detachable disc drive which can attach to the console via an extra USB-C port around the back, out of sight. Or, it can be left off altogether if you want the console to be slimmer.

Check out this guy’s wholesome reaction to being gifted a PS5 from his wife below.

Henderson stated that the new console will be available to buy with or without the detachable disc drive bundled in, and that the disc drives will also be able to be purchased separately. However, as PlayStation Universe reports, the insider recently added on Twitter that the disc drive “likely won't be compatible with the current digital version”, so if you already own the the original model, you apparently won’t be able to upgrade it using the new hardware.

A small update here:

- Doesn't seem like there are any major hardware changes from the original console.
- Disc Drive likely won't be compatible with the current digital versionhttps://t.co/2rzlDrjYAb

— Tom Henderson (@_Tom_Henderson_) January 13, 2023

Obviously, if you own a Disc Edition PS5, this doesn’t sound like it’ll affect you in the slightest. However, if Sony really has gone out of its way to make sure that owners of the existing Digital Edition can’t upgrade their console without buying a completely new one, then there’s no doubt that the detachable disc drive’s existence will prove to be contentious.

At the time of writing, neither the new PS5 or detachable disc drive have been confirmed by Sony to actually exist, but assuming that Henderson’s claim about their supposed release window is accurate, we probably don’t have too long to wait to find out if they are. You might want to hold off from buying a Digital Edition PS5 until we know for sure what’s happening, anyway.