Rumour: Next-Gen AMD Tech to Power Supposed Sony Handheld as Well as PS6

It should be zen 5... What's the point of zen 4 when it's going to be ancient by the time it will release.

In fact, let me fix myself. It should be zen 6 minimum, as we won't get ps6 until at least 2027 November. And zen 6 releasing in 2025... Zen 4 will be PS4 all over again.

I would be surprised if we got another PSP or Vita tbh. Nintendo and mobile gaming have cornered the market.

A PlayStation Steam Deck however, is a real possibility. The Portal was a warm up to the main meal - just like the Pro to the PS6.

DNA for me and DNA for U.
Dad jokes aside, I ain't surprised to see AMD powering both devices, but I might say I think Nvidia might be a better pick for a handheld

It took less than 2 weeks after the release of the PS5 Pro before we got PS6 rumors

Please just give us a Playstation equivalent for the Steam Deck, the Portal being reliant on streaming from the console itself is not good enough. It's 2024, nearly 2025, I do not want to be bound to a TV screen for my gaming needs.

Yes, that's what I'm hoping for! Their newest APUs run extremely well at low wattage (wukong, 1080p ~60fps on a tdp of 15w) which means longer battery life.
Of course we're also seeing an increased shift to arm processors which are even more power efficient, but also bring compatibility issues with x86 software on which PS4 and ps5 is based on. We'll see.

@CielloArc Dad jokes aside? I didn't agree to this.

Proper handheld console like steam deck that can play native game not streaming and i buy day 1 sony. Ex owner of psp and vita.

I hope Sony releases a new handheld so I can read all of the apologies from all of the people who mocked me when I said they eventually would years ago. 😂 I don’t mind people disagreeing with me, the world would be so boring if we all agreed on everything, but the name calling insults has just gotten so out of hand.😝

Anyway the Portal exists so…

@get2sammyb Sony should bite the bullet once again and make an attractive and affordable device and sell at a loss to get an edge again in the handheld department. They'll have to compete with steam and the likes if they make an expensive luxury item like the ps5pro.

If Sony is going to charge $700 for an "enthusiast" console (with less features than the original) then I can imagine they would charge $1500 for a PS6 that includes a handheld that can play the entire library. Probably closer to $2000 honestly.

@Mikey856 I mostly play Civ 5 on mine so I've never noticed 😂

But yeah, it is already a pretty outdated piece of kit.

@Golem25 I'd rather be bound to my mini led tv than a crappy wee screen, plus im older so the old eyesight aint as good as it was 🤣

@Mikey856 that's a bit of a maximalist take and it's not a given that handheld games of the past ran with 60fps. Steam deck often hit a good middle ground on 40fps, but if you plan to connect it to a bigger screen, yes... things get ugly.
But with new mobile chips and ai upscaling and frame sampling newer devices are an entirely new ball game.

old rumour we already knew all of that

I'm only interested in PS6 if it is backwards compatible with PS4.

@Mikey856 Steam Deck is selling very well in its market. Handheld PCs have been a niche market for a long time, with devices from GPD etc selling relatively low numbers. It deserves all the praise too, since having a handheld device to play games in your Steam library is extremely convenient. It's not a portable PS5, but then, no portable device is. Keep your resolution in check and it will play games well for a 2022 device.

Makes sense though I wonder if it can really compete with the switch model since the PS6 and the handheld will be sold separately. Also the Steamdeck is a Linux platform with a massive library too.

I'm sure it will sell well but I don't see it taking over the current standards in the industry,

@Bamila Designing hardware takes a long time. They can't just take a chip and release a system with it a year later. There's a reason why we're already hearing rumours about it, and that's because they've started designing it pretty much immediately after PS5 came out. They also have to make a good deal with AMD to keep price in check, so using cutting edge hardware is unlikely.

For the handheld, they really should be using ARM processor instead of Zen4/5 (which is amd64/x86) to be as energy efficient as possible. Unfortunately it would make backwards compatibility difficult without some technical wizardry.

I will never buy a dedicated ps handheld again after psvita. Sony just don't support them. Also I don't want a handheld constraining the ps6 if its shared library, this is the equivalent of xbox series s. I am super happy with the Portal, just make it 4k 120 streaming, networks are getting better and better, and it just makes sense to utilise the power of the cloud and ps6

@Mikey856 the hardware market on PC is way more fractured than any console hardware. Having any single pc hardware selling 3m is a feat as one could get any random pc hardware. Had a steam deck, performance was alright but if I spend more time tweaking than playing it's not for me.
Psportal isn't setting the world on fire either with approx. <1m sold, but doing way better than expected considering one could get a cheap tablet a telescopic controller and voilà... a better streaming device that can generally do more minus the fancy vibration that only is noticeable in astro bot.

If Sony can make a Steamdeck-like system and bring it in around $400-500, I think with their build quality and hardware design, it could truly compete. Even with the "limited" library of their ecosystem compared to PC, it'd make a whole lot of sense.

Make a PS6. All the bells and whistles it deserves. Of course.

But then also have a Steamdeck/Switch-like handheld that plays the same games, but scaled down (just like you get on other handhelds) and is able to be docked to a TV and act like a "lesser" version of the main console. They laid the groundwork for this sort of thing over the years with PSP, PSTV, their streaming acquisitions... Give your consumers a choice of full at-home gaming with all your 8k textures and top tier frame rates etc., but also give them a mobile option for people who want that on the go convenience. Anyone who wants both, have at it, of course.

Some may balk at that idea, but no one can deny the sales success of the Switch, the huge boon to PC gaming that the Steamdeck and its competitors are leading, nor the sales success of the Xbox Series S (compared to its X counterpart). Consumers are outright screaming that "best in show" graphics aren't the end all be all many claimed over the years. Sony should embrace that and cater to that portion of the market with a "lesser" system, but do so in a way that opens up their ability to compete more broadly. Having a two prong strategy would let them compete on multiple fronts and make a real case for staying within the PS ecosystem.

As someone who likes my Switch, my PC, and my PS5 for different reasons, it's not out of the question that I try and scale down on ecosystems/storefronts I'm buying into over the coming years (just like I ditched Xbox at the beginning of this generation after 3 hardware generations of support). Consolidating into/under Sony is an argument they stand to make more appealing to someone like me. And they should be making it. This sort of strategy could do that for them.

My gut tells me they'll ***** it up, though, and overcharge simply because they think they can. And it'll ruin the effort more or less. Their hubris is legendary.