It may feel a bit early to consider future SKUs for thePS5, or for Sony PlayStation consoles beyond even that. After all, most potentialPS5owners haven’t even decided between the all-digital diskless PS5 or the standard PS5. Nevertheless, a new patent registered by Sony Interactive Entertainment in the USA implies the company is already looking forward. The patent describes a “scalable game console” with unique hardware architecture, leading some to question if Sony’s already working on a PS5 Pro.
Thehardwaredescribed in Sony’s scalable game console patent is unique in one notable regard. The hardware is designed for a “multi-GPU” arrangement. The multiple GPUs would be tasked with individual rendering tasks that could be multiplexed together for output. The basic idea being that two GPUs would be able to work together to not only create better performance that a single chip couldn’t provide, while also not requiring a single more powerful (and more expensive chip).
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The patent even goes further, recognizing alternative architectures that include associating separateGPUswith separate CPUs. The idea being that both this additive process for improving performance can be utilized in different ways as best makes sense for the hardware.
The overall goal of Sony’s scalable game console being that different consoles with relatively similar architecture could be offered yet provide dramatically different performance levels. For example, asingle GPU console like the PS5could be the lower end of the line, while a multi-GPU console could provide peak performance.
As an example, the PS5 being released later this year could be considered the based model. Then, in a few years, Sony could release aPS5 Pro modelthat utilizes very similar hardware to the PS5 only with two of the same GPU working in coordination. Sony wouldn’t have to invest in an entirely new chip, but it would still have a new console with an impressive leap in hardware performance.
Obviously, any such speculation about a PS5 Pro or any futurePlayStation consoleis purely speculation. Sony may or may not have any intention of using the ideas in this patent in future hardware. Nevertheless, it’s an interesting patent that could definitely shed light on Sony’s future PlayStation plans.
