Sony Reportedly Prepping "PlayStation 6 Portable" with "<40 CU" Chipset Design

[T0@st]

Sony and Microsoft seem to be involved in the development of handheld gaming consoles, but insiders reckon that respective next-generation offerings will not directly compete with each other. Xbox and ASUS have signalled some sort of collaborative ROG Alloy-esque device; potentially releasing later on in 2025. Whispers of a futuristic PlayStation portable model's chipset design emerged mid-way through March; courtesy of Kepler_L2. The notorious leaker has recent history of reporting inside track knowledge of AMD CPU and GPU architectures/technologies. They alleged that Sony and Team Red's collaborative PS6 APU design project had reached a finalized stage of development, possibly around late 2024/early 2025. Returning to March/April events; Kepler_L2 theorized that a "PS6 Portable" would not be capable of surpassing PlayStation 5 (home console) level performance upon launch in 2028.

The mysterious handheld is said to be powered by a "15 W SoC" manufactured on a non-specific 3 nm node process. Elaborating further, they posit that PlayStation's rumored handheld is capable of running PS5 generation games—bandwidth and power restrictions could reduce resolution and frame rates below that of Sony's current-gen system. Kepler_L2 pictures "PS6 Portable" gaming performance being somewhere in-between Xbox Series S and PlayStation 5 (non-Pro). According to rumors, the handheld's chipset is not related or derived from the PS6 home console's internal setup. Kepler_L2 envisioned a mobile SoC with fewer than 40 compute units (CUs)—several media outlets have added their interpretation of this data point; with a sub-36 count. PlayStation 5's GPU aspect consists of 36 CUs, while the Xbox Series S graphics solution makes do with 20 units. Sony's speculated return to portable territories will be welcomed by owners of older handheld models—namely the Vita and PSP. Famously, these portable products struggled to keep up with competing Nintendo devices.



View at TechPowerUp Main Site | Source

 

[Cheeseball]

Less than 40 CUs eh? Well that sounds like it would fit the Al Max 385 well.

But being a handheld, they would have to cut the TDP below 45W somehow.

It may be possible though:

 

[THANATOS]

With a limit of 15W for SoC, there is no reason to put more than 16CU in It.
We can't really expect great performance, but at least let's hope Sony will use at least RDNA4 or UDNA, although not sure what to expect from the later one, but RDNA4 pleasantly surprised.
Honestly, I would welcome If the power was increased to 25-30W at least when It's docked or plugged in.

 

[Space Lynx]

I just have to many games on Steam at this point, so unless it supports SteamOS dual boot, which it won't, count me out. Steam Deck 2 is probably the only handheld in my future. Gaben's strategy worked, cause yeah, EMUDECK, Heroic Launcher, and SteamOS library... yeee

 

[Wirko]

Will it come with a pre-inflated price for EMEA, ANZ and ETC regions?

 

[Space Lynx]

Will it come with a pre-inflated price for EMEA, ANZ and ETC regions?

I have to admit, it is very strange those regions are subsidizing the cost of the PS5 so it can stay cheap in USA. Makes no sense to me, PS5 is highly overrated anyway, 30 fps gaming, I'm sorry, but I just can't do that anymore.

 

[yfn_ratchet]

Why have an Ally when you could have an Aloy?

Being for real though, this thing isn't all that enticing to me unless it's easily homebrewed/doesn't look like the stupid PlayStation Portal. Handhelds need to be pocketable, and the (relative to its competitors) compact Steam Deck already pushes that threshold. Damn near need a man-clutch to carry it around.

 

[FeelinFroggy]

Its a closed system just like the switch 2. Even though Sony does know something about portable hardware, I'll pass. Just imagine how much the games will cost.

 

[watzupken]

It’s a handheld and need to sip power and not overheat. So I won’t expect a high CU count here. It will cost Sony more with little benefits to the buyers even they use a Strix Halo class iGPU.

 

[Chaitanya]

Will wait for review and hopefully its not too big for a "portable".