512 MB DDR4 RAM (used as SSD controller cache)[3] The PlayStation 5 (PS5) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment.

It was announced as the successor to the PlayStation 4 in April 2019, was launched on November 12, 2020, in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, North America, and South Korea, and was released worldwide a week later.

[10] A PlayStation 5 Pro model was released on November 7, 2024, featuring a faster GPU, improved ray tracing, and introducing an AI-driven upscaling technology.

The PlayStation 5's main hardware features include a solid-state drive customized for high-speed data streaming to enable significant improvements in storage performance, an AMD GPU capable of 4K resolution display at up to 120 frames per second, hardware-accelerated ray tracing for realistic lighting and reflections, and the Tempest Engine for hardware-accelerated 3D audio effects.

[14] In early 2019, Sony's financial report for the quarter ending March 31, 2019, affirmed that new next-generation hardware was in development but would ship no earlier than April 2020.

[17][18] At CES 2020, Sony unveiled the official logo for the platform, which follows the similar minimalist styling of the previous PlayStation consoles and brand.

[47] The GPU has 36 compute units running at a variable frequency capped at 2.23 GHz, making it capable of a peak theoretical performance of 10.28 teraFLOPS.

[53] Both the CPU and GPU are monitored by a special boost system incorporating AMD's SmartShift technology that adjusts the frequency of these units based on the current activities of both to target ideal constant power drawn and a model SoC performance profile.

[46] Mark Cerny stated that a fast SSD was the top request from game developers so the goal not only was to have a theoretical raw read speed 100 times faster than PS4, but to eliminate input/output (I/O) bottleneck points so the performance target could be made effective.

To this end, Sony designed a custom chip with multiple coprocessors to work in unison with the flash memory controller to reduce latency and channel data more efficiently around the system.

[56][57][58] The wings are removable to access certain internal components such as the PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD storage expansion slot, the power supply, and the optional Blu-ray disc drive.

Morisawa also had to manage the case shape to provide enough internal volume within the unit for all the technical hardware while reducing its size without restricting airflow.

[83] The DualSense controller has adaptive triggers with force feedback through voice coil actuators that can change the resistance to the player as necessary, supporting experiences such as virtually drawing an arrow from a bow.

[68][85] As an Easter egg, the texture of the controller unit is covered in miniature versions of the four PlayStation button symbols (cross, circle, square, and triangle).

[89] In August 2022, Sony began shipping another hardware revision (the 1200 series), for both the base and digital versions of the PS5, which used a die shrink of the original SoC.

[91] New, slimmer models of the PS5 and PS5 Digital Edition, colloquially referred to as the PlayStation 5 Slim,[92][93][94] were announced by Sony in October 2023 for release in November 2023, replacing both original versions of the system.

[105] Sports Illustrated mocked the price point, with editor Dave Aubrey writing: "It feels almost cruel, in a climate like this, to try and convince people that the PS5 Pro, with its meager enhancements, is actually worth the money.

[111][112][113][114] A successor to the PlayStation VR, the device consists of a headset featuring dual OLED panels capable of 4K resolution, HDR and 90/120 Hz refresh rates.

[14] Matt MacLaurin, the current vice president of UX design at PlayStation, described the redesigned user interface as a "very interesting evolution of the OS", and a "100 percent overhaul of the PS4 UI and some very different new concepts".

Game-related cards may present players with gameplay information such as a progress report toward completing specific missions, or listing game challenges with an option to jump directly to them.

The lower portion of the Control Center contains a customizable horizontal row of icons, including notifications, status updates, friends list, and system settings.

[129] In April 2021, Sony released a new software update through which users can transfer their downloaded PS5 game to an external USB hard drive.

[131] One of the first major features offered in this program was support for expanding internal storage via the M.2 port, added in the beta software path in July 2021.

[132] Sony introduced Game Trials in October 2021, starting with a limited release for UK users for Death Stranding: Director's Cut and Sackboy: A Big Adventure.

[137] On September 12, 2024, Sony released software update 10.00, which added Welcome hub, Party Share, personalized 3D audio profiles, adaptive controller charging, and support for enabling remote play for individual users.

[151] According to Hideaki Nishino, Sony's senior vice president of Platform Planning and Management, the PS5 is designed to be backward compatible with more than "99 percent" of PS4's 4,000+ game library, playable from launch day.

[158] As of December 16, 2021, the official PlayStation website shows six PS4 games that remain incompatible with PS5; Afro Samurai 2: Revenge of Kuma Volume One, Hitman Go: Definitive Edition, Just Deal With It!, Robinson: The Journey, Shadwen, and We Sing.

[160] Astro's Playroom, which comes preinstalled on every PS5 and is designed to demonstrate the controller's features, was praised with Laptop Mag calling it "deceptively cute".

[161] The exclusive line-up, including Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Demon's Souls, was heavily praised, although some reviewers, such as TechRadar, said there should have been more launch games.

[165] More technical reviews, such as those by Digital Foundry, noted that features such as variable refresh rate and the advertised 8K video output mode were not present at launch.