How much storage will the PS5 have?

Hello PS5 solid-state drive

We know that the new PS5 is being built with an 825GB solid-state drive (SSD) instead of the traditional HDD. Not only will this upgrade give us a much faster system but it also gives us a starting point to deduce how much storage the basic launch build will offer.

What was the PS4’s storage size?

At launch the original PlayStation 4 came with the option of 500GB for the basic build or, if you had extra spending money, 1TB. This was the standard again at the launch of the PlayStation Slim in 2016. However, Sony has now discontinued not only the original PS4 but the 500GB Slim variant as well. 

The smallest storage unit now offered is 1TB for the PS4 Slim and PS4 Pro. This increases up to 2TB internal storage for the Pro, which, from launch, only had these two options.

Why does the PS5 have an 825GB SSD rather than 1TB?

Eurogamer has a good breakdown of exactly what’s going on here:

…Sony’s solution is proprietary, 825GB is most optimal match for the 12-channel interface and there are other advantages too. In short, Sony had more freedom to adapt its design: ‘We can look at the available NAND flash parts and construct something with optimal price performance. Someone constructing an M.2 drive presumably does not have that freedom, it would be difficult to market and sell if it were not one of those standard sizes,’ Mark Cerny says.

Is there room to expand PS5 storage?

Like the PS4’s support of external hard drives, the PS5 will also have room to expand. The PS5 is going in a different direction by offering a slot for a NVMe drive, which will need to fit the M.2 drive slot offered and also meet Sony’s speed requirements for validation. But it means we get room to expand without having to pay for a specific brand name add-on. 

How much can we expand? Sony hasn’t confirmed what limitations it’ll place on the speed and size of the additional drive.