It goes without saying that the PlayStation 5 is a testament of just how powerful technology has gotten in today’s era of console gaming (we can testify to this in our recent preview of it, of course).
But for all the blazing-fast speeds it offers thanks to Sony’s option to use an internal solid state drive for storage, the Japanese company tells The Verge that the ability to expand the SSD will not be available at launch.
For the uninitiated, there is a dedicated M.2 SSD slot under the PS5’s hood that will allow users to easily fit in another SSD stick to expand the console’s storage space on the fly. However, Sony confirms that this component will be disabled at launch, and will only be “reserved for a future update”.
There are several factors as to the delay of such a feature. PlayStation’s Mark Cerny actually explained that, currently, a lot of M.2 SSDs are still unable to keep up with the processing demands of the PS5, nor are they even able to fit into the SSD bay. At present, the only internal SSD that could work on the PS5 (again, not guaranteed as Sony has effectively announced an embargo on the SSD bay) is the WD_Black SN850 NVMe SSD.
Sony is still in the process of doing compatibility testing, while we also imagine tech companies are hard at work to produce M.2 SSDs that are compatible with the PS5 (and, by extension, the Xbox Series X|S).
However, the silver lining here is that folks will still be able to use external storage for the PlayStation 5. Additionally, you’ll be able to play PS4 games directly off these external drives (though you’ll have to copy entire PS5 games over in order to run them on your PS5 system).
Check out some of the best external SSDs to get for your shiny new PS5 below:
WD_Black P50 Game Drive Portable SSD (up to 2,000MB/s)
Available in 500GB | 1TB | 2TB and starts from US$114.99
WD My Passport SSD (up to 1050MB/s)
Available in 500GB | 1TB | 2TB and starts from US$89.99
SanDisk Extreme PRO Portable SSD (up to 2,000MB/s)
Available in 500GB | 1TB | 2TB and starts from US$107.99
SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD (up to 1,050MB/s)
Available in 250GB | 500GB | 1TB | 2TB
Seagate Firecuda Gaming SSD (up to 2,000MB/s)
Available in 500GB | 1TB | 2TB
Seagate Barracuda Fast SSD (up to 540MB/s)
Available in 500GB | 1TB | 2TB and starts from US$109.99
Samsung T7 Portable SSD (up to 1,050MB/s)
Available in 500GB | 1TB | 2TB and starts at US$79.99
Check out more on the PS5:
- PS5 Allows You To Run PS4 But Not PS5 Games Directly Off An External Drive
- Expand Your PS5 Storage With These NVMe PCIe 4.0 M.2 Internal SSDs
- PS5 Disassembled: A Look At Everything Inside The Console
- Which PlayStation 5 Games Should You Buy At Launch?
- PlayStation Changes Up Trophy Levelling System Ahead of PlayStation 5 Launch
Marion has a serious RPG addiction. Sometimes it bleeds into real life; he forgets to sleep because he thinks he has a Witcher’s body clock. Forgive him in advance if he suddenly blurts out terms such as “Mind Flayer” and “Magic Missile”, because never once does he stop thinking about his next Dungeons & Dragons game.
Si Jia
Kevin Low
