There’s been a strange change to the PlayStation 5, or at least a version of it available in one country. Sony’s making a new edition of the digital PS5 for Japan, and eagle-eyed console watchers have spotted that this new console is somehow 300 grams lighter — that’s about two-thirds of a pound. And there doesn’t seem to be anything in the console that would result in that kind of a weight change.
The PlayStation 5 digital edition is a version of the console that comes without a disc drive — meaning, you can only play digital copies of games on it. Like every other version, the console has been very difficult to find. The new model number was spotted by Twitter user @PS5sokuhouInfo and the weight change was confirmed by PlayStation Universe.
Where could the console have lost that extra two-thirds of a pound? The console otherwise has the same dimensions, according to the manual. It’s possible something in the internals has been changed. Maybe one of the many, many cooling components has been sized down or is being made with lighter materials. It’s too soon to say, as the new model does not yet appear to be available to buy.
The only change to the console that one can detect from examining the manual is that the screw on the bottom has been switched out for a thumbscrew. In case you don’t know, the PS5 comes with a base that can be screwed into the bottom of the console, complete with the included screw. If you don’t use the screw — say, if you lay the console on its side and use the stand as a balance — then you can store it in the base. That screw has been replaced with one that can be turned by hand. I highly doubt the change between the two screws is worth 0.66 lbs, though.
Source: PlayStation Universe