Sony’s first PS5 public beta system software rolls out the much awaited M.2 SSD expansion support. The slot will support PCIe Gen4x4 M.2 NVMe SSD’s. Testers can also check out other user interface changes in 3D Audio, Trophy tracking, Friends List, and labeled PS game generation tags. Currently, the beta software is available for select users in the US, Canada, Japan, UK, Germany, and France.
PS5 Public Beta To Support M.2 SSD
Sony has finally unlocked the M.2 SSD expansion slot on the PS5 through the beta software and will allow users to upgrade the internal 667.2GB usable memory. The company mentions the expansion slot will only support PCIe Gen4x4 M.2 NVMe SSD’s (M Key) with a form factor of 2230, 2242, 2260, 2280, or 22110 and recommends sequential read speeds of 5,500MB/s or faster. Drive capacities ranging from 250GB up to 4TB single or double-sided drives should work with the console.
However, a sequential speed of 5,500MB/s or higher is recommended, Sony warns users that “not all games are necessarily playable with the exact same performance provided by the PS5 console’s internal Ultra-High Speed SSD.” For heat dissipation, the company recommends M.2 SSDs that come with heat sinks or are user-provided, which should only rise 8mm “above the board” to ensure the entire SSD and heatsink combo can fit in the PS5’s 11.25mm high compartment.
With the beta software, testers can move, store and run PS4 and PS5 games from the M.2 SSD, compared to the current PS5 firmware, where users can only transfer games to external drives.
Sony has not listed any official products supporting the PS5 for external storage expansion and says “features and specifications described herein may change before the official system software release.” We do not recommend heading out and spending money based on promised features or beta software. But, the two notable SSDs meeting the required specifications are the Samsung 980 Pro and the Seagate FireCuda 530.
The beta software also introduces fresh user interface features. One of which allows much more control in friends chat lobby, trophy tracking, control center customization, and PS generation game tags. With the microphones on the DualSense controller, users can map out room acoustics for better 3D audio tuning.
Comparing to PS5 and Xbox Series X/S user-upgradable high-speed storage, the M.2 SSD format for the PS5 is relatively more flexible in terms of available storage capacities and price to performance. Xbox Series X offers a single 1TB option proprietary expansion card for high-speed storage.
