Rumors of the Sony PlayStation 4 Neo, otherwise referred to as PlayStation 4.5 or even PlayStation 4K, have been here for quite a while now.
With Microsoft having already done its part by updating the Xbox One with a new, slimmer Xbox One S, it is about time Sony did the same. Apparently, the launch date is closer than many thought, with the latest reports pointing towards a September 7 launch date. If this materializes, the new PlayStation 4 Neo will be announced at a special event to be held in New York City.
Nintendo is also planning a huge announcement at around the same period, but the NX platform will wait until the week of September 12 when the Tokyo Game Show event takes place. Sony’s choice of a slightly earlier date could help the Japanese tech giant by giving it a head start into the market that is also being targeted by the new Nintendo NX console.
It is not the first time news of a PlayStation 4 Neo launch being imminent have shown up, but it’s the first time we’ve had a specific date to go with the report. Given the expected full compatibility with PlayStation VR and more added soup, Sony will be hoping to see the two devices come to life in time for this year’s Christmas holidays.
Similar to what is happening with Microsoft Xbox One S and Xbox One with respect to games’ compatibility, Sony is also expected to bring about the same backward compatibility when the PlayStation 4 Neo is unveiled. This will mean that gamers will be able to carry on with their current PS4 games once they upgrade to the newer version.
While there will probably be modes of play or rather features that are specific to PlayStation 4 Neo, developers will be allowed to upgrade the current capabilities in order to fit the new console, which could mean some modes and features available on the console could be missing on some games. But this will depend on the developer.
If any of the latest rumors are to be believed, the PlayStation 4 Neo will pack an octa-core AMD Jaguar processor that is clocked at a speed of 2.1GHz as well as a Polaris-derived graphics unit that has double the cores you find on the current version as well as a higher clock frequency. There will also be a memory bandwidth of 218GB/s as compared to the 176GB/s found on the PlayStation 4.