PS4 NEO (PS4.5) release date and news round-up: 7 PS4K rumours you NEED to know

The next Sony PlayStation won’t be the PS5, it’ll be the PS4 NEO, the PS4K or the PS4.5, a halfway-house between the PS4 and PS5. Ever since the PS4 NEO was first announced by Kotaku, the rumours and leaks haven’t stopped. And now reports from Digital Foundry and GiantBomb and have revealed even more about the PS4 NEO. We know the PS4 NEO is happening, but what’s it going to be like, how much will it cost, and what does it mean for existing PS4 owners and games developers? Here are the seven most important PS4 NEO (PS4.5) rumours.

The 7 things to expect from the PS4 NEO

1. The PS4 NEO (PS4.5) will probably use AMD chips

So we’re still not 100% sure what chips the PS4 NEO will use, but a more and more reports are suggesting the PS4 NEO will be powered by AMD chips. Earlier this year, MCV noticed the chip manufacturer cited "three system on chip wins" for its higher than normal projected revenue – and that points to the Nintendo NX and Xbox 2 as well as the PS4.5. More recently, a new earning forecast noticed by VRworld also pointed to AMD supplying a new console - and it could be the PS4.5

2. And they'll make the PS4 NEO (PS4.5) VERY powerful

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To get games running at 4K, Sony will need to implement some serious upgrades to the PS4. The current PS4 can handle 1080p resolution at 60fps with most games, but increasing that to a 4K would require several big upgrades. Digital Foundry has detailed just how powerful the PS4.5 going to be – and it’s looking pretty impressive. The report says the PS4.5 will use the same CPU as the PS4, but each of its eight Jaguar cores will be clocked to 2.1GHz instead of 1.6GHz – a boost of 1.3. At the same time, the memory will go up from 8GB GDDR5 at 176GB/sec to the same amount of memory at a faster 218GB/sec – enough for a 24% increase in bandwidth.

However, the largest increase will come from the GPU. Sony is upping the PS4’s 18 Radeon compute units at 800MHz to 36 "improved" units at 911MHz. That should give an increase of 2.3 FLOPs, which is massive.

3. The PS4 NEO (PS4.5) will probably pair up well with the PS VR

This one is more of a prediction than a rumour. We know that the PS4.5 will be able to produce 4K content, but like the normal PS4, it’ll also work with the PlayStation VR headset to produce VR content. A PS VR headset with coupled with a PS4.5 will no doubt be the ultimate way to consume VR content on the PlayStation, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we see something like an Ultimate Bundle, with both the PS4.5 and the PS VR included.  

4. The PS4 NEO (PS4.5) will output to 4K 

And what about 4K? It looks as though the PS4.5 will focus on 4K – just like we thought – but Sony is giving developers a lot of scope on how to do this. Instead, it looks like the NEO will be able to upscale to 4K, but will need to at least match the frame rate of the vanilla PS4 game.

5. The PS4 NEO (PS4.5) release date might be in 2016

Although games will feature both modes by October, that doesn’t necessarily mean the NEO or PS4.5 will be out before the end of the year. According to GameStop COO Tony Bartel, the PS4.5 is imminent – so could be out before 2017.

At a GameStop event, Bartel said: "Although we have not modelled extensive growth for new innovation in this presentation, we are very pleased to see the introduction of technology like virtual reality and rumoured new console launches. Some of which seem imminent."

6. The PS4 NEO (PS4.5) is codenamed "NEO" right now

Ever since news broke of the "nearly PS5", we’ve been calling it the PS4.5 or the PS4K. However, the latest leaks suggest the PS4.5 is being called NEO internally. Whether you like that name or not doesn’t really matter, as it’s likely to change well before release. After all, the PS4 was called the Orbis during development.

7. The PS4 NEO (PS4.5) won’t have its own games as such

When we first heard about the PS4.5, we were as stunned as everyone else, because we wondered how Sony could effectively split its customer base in two. However, Giant Bomb's report explains how the company aims to get round that – and just what the PS4.5 will mean for game developers. According to the report, every PS4 game will need to ship with a Base Mode that will run on the standard PS4 and a NEO mode that will use the PS4.5’s increased power. Earlier in the year, I suggested that developers would use something like a free, after-purchase download to unlock the potential of the PS4.5, and that looks to be the case. If Giant Bomb’s sources are right, that’ll be the extent of the differences between the consoles, as the report suggests there will be no PS4.5-only games.