A new report indicates that Sony’s next-generation console will have twice the “raw power” of the PS5. Discussing the PS6 and the current-generation console, known leaker KeplerL2 has noted that comparisons between the two console generations that involve only measuring TFLOPS (trillion floating-point operations per second) are flawed, however. When it comes to real-world use cases, the PS6 is expected to have 12 times faster ray tracing performance and AI compute capabilities that are between 50 and 70 times faster than that of the PS5.
In another post, KeplerL2 has mentioned that the chip powering the PS6 will be capable of 40 TFLOPS, while the one in Project Helix comes in at 56 TFLOPS. Both chips are also noted as already having been taped out, which indicates that Sony and Microsoft are staying on schedule for the rumored late 2027 launch for their respective consoles.
A chip being taped out essentially means that its design has been finalized, with layout files having been sent to the fabrication plant where they will be manufactured. The term itself is an old one, coming from computing discussions from the 1970s, when chip designs used to be written on magnetic data tapes before they could be shipped to the fabrication plants. Like many other examples of computer parlance – like a floppy disk indicating “saving” a file – the term has stuck around due to it serving as a useful shorthand for describing an otherwise complex subject.
It is worth noting that neither Sony nor Microsoft has officially confirmed any details about the launch windows for their next-generation consoles. Just last month, Sony CEO Hiroki Totoki mentioned that launch plans for the PS6 were undecided due to global memory shortages. “Considering that importance, we need to take some action. Otherwise, we cannot survive in this landscape,” he said.
However, rumors have been pointing to a 2027 launch for quite some time, with KeplerL2 having previously claimed that hardware maker AMD has already begun validating hardware. “You think AMD is gonna waste resources doing validation on something they think will get delayed?”
Discussions at the time also argued against the idea that Sony would push back its console due to an unfavorable hardware market, since the company has experience in dealing with complicated market conditions.
“The PS4 was selling extremely well in 2019, and component costs and shortages were hitting the industry hard due to COVID in 2020. The first interview regarding potential PS5 hardware was in April 2019, while we already had that Amethyst announcement regarding next-gen last year,” noted one forum user.
As for Microsoft, the company seems to have more hardware plans than simply one new console SKU. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma said back in August that “We’ve been hard at work on a great next generation and a great family of devices for Project Helix.” He also confirmed that the console will “push the boundaries of performance” and will be capable of playing console and PC games. The affordability of Project Helix, however, remains a complicated subject.
