The PS5 is a Lighter, Less Dense Than It Looks: An Update on the Sony/Sony Unpaired Disc Drive Problem

Aside from the detachable drive, the new “slim” PS5 is 30 percent smaller by volume and 24 percent lighter, according to Sony. The smaller non-Slim model has 175GB of capacity, which is less than the larger console’s 1 terabytes of capacity.

I will give theremovable disc drive to Sony for being easy to detach or attach without any tools. (It’s even easier than adding an M.2 SSD to the PS5 — which is thankfully still possible.) But I’m also left asking, “Why?” Sure, someone with buyer’s remorse over their Digital Edition PS5 can simply get a disc drive and add it on themselves, but they’ll end up paying more in the process since the Digital Edition now costs $449.99 and the drive add-on runs $79.99.

Even if the disc drive came attached to the console, it requires an internet connection, as was first reported last month. Are you planning on setting up your console with no internet? That may be unlikely for most people, but if you’re in that situation, you won’t be able to play anything until you at least connect once to Sony’s servers. You’re even given a warning that factory resetting your console requires an internet connection to properly unpair the disc drive, which raises the question of what happens if you sell or buy a secondhand drive that wasn’t unpaired. I will update this post if I hear back on the questions I have with Sony. It may lead to some messiness when it comes to preservation because I don’t see how this DRM benefits anyone.

The new standard PlayStation 5 for late 2023 once again costs $499.99 and includes a disc drive that’s now removable. The new PS5 is being offered as a bundle with free digital game at various retailers, which will save you between $59.99 and $699.99. You can buy the console at a number of stores, including Best Buy, Walmart, Target, and Amazon.