Rumor mill: The memory crisis is expected to last for several years, but Sony hopes things will have improved by the time the PlayStation 6 arrives. According to a new rumor, the next-gen console will pack a hefty 30GB of GDDR7 with 640 GB/s bandwidth, marking a 42% increase over the PlayStation 5.
It's been almost five years since the PlayStation 5 launched. That means its successor, the PlayStation 6, isn't far away, so the rumors are starting to arrive thick and fast.
A new claim comes from long-time reliable leaker Kepler L2. According to their NeoGAF post, the PlayStation 6 will feature 30GB of GDDR7 RAM. That's 6GB more than previous rumors claimed and almost double the 16GB of GDDR6 RAM in the PlayStation 5.
Sony's next console is predicted to use ten 3GB memory modules in clamshell configuration. The memory bus is reduced from 256-bit to 160-bit, but a faster memory speed of 32Gbps per chip pushes it to 640 GB/s bandwidth, more than the PS5 Pro's 576 GB/s.
Rumors are rumors, of course, even when they come from someone with a good track record. While Sony could pack the PS6 with 30GB of memory, the current supply woes the industry is experiencing may not have been alleviated by the time the console arrives – the memory crisis is why Valve recently delayed the Steam Machine and Steam Frame.
Another forum user suggests that a 20GB PS6 would be a more realistic target as any more could raise the MSRP by another $100. Kepler disagreed, stating that 20GB simply is not enough. He acknowledged there will be an extra $100 on the bill of materials (BOM), but Sony will have to deal with the added expense until prices come down.
Sony is also believed to be releasing a PlayStation 6 handheld. Kepler believes it will feature 24GB of LPDDR5X memory.
The Japanese gaming giant is said to be developing two SoCs for the PlayStation 6 and its handheld version. Other rumors have pointed to an AMD Zen 6-based CPU, possibly with a 3D stacked cache, in the PS6 console, along with a custom UDNA GPU architecture.
As for when we'll be able to verify all these rumors, the PlayStation 6 could arrive in 2027, the same year that, according to AMD, the next Xbox will launch.