PlayStation 5 is in development but Sony is keeping tightlipped about what the next console will have and when exactly it will be hitting the market.
Sony is fresh from launching its PlayStation Pro and PlayStation 4 Slim just a few months back, so it's unlikely we're going to see any new consoles from the tech giant any time soon.
But rumors are already abounding about what gamers can expect from the PlayStation 5 so it seems like there's certainly plenty of demand for more consoles.
There are conflicting views among the experts as to when the device is likely to release. Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter predicted that we could have a long wait on our hands, maybe up to three years. He argues that the market for 4K broadcast is going to be heating up around 2020, making that the ideal time to launch the new console and worth the wait for Sony, rather than launching it in the near future.
Then there's the forecast of Macquarie Research analyst Damian Thong who thinks Sony won't wait as long as that and will instead release the PS5 in the second half of 2018.
Interestingly, he predicts that the PS5 will come with 10 teraflops for its graphics processing unit (GPU), which would put it well ahead of anything in the current crop of consoles, including the soon-to-be-released Microsoft's Project Scorpio.
Thong predicts that Sony will continue to perform well in the gaming market, given the success of the PlayStation VR and titles like "Horizon Zero Dawn", but with room to peak in sales beyond 2018, which presumably is where a high spec PS5 release would fit in well.
Launching the PS5 towards the end of 2018 would "secure the installed base," he writes.
So what else can we expect in terms of specs? ValueWalk.com predicts that the PS5 may be the console that sees Sony part ways with CDs and be geared entirely for native 4K content, which will be the standard TV definition by Q2 2018.
And it's possible that in addition to the rumored expansion in storage, Sony will also do away with CDs, possibly moving to the UHD Disc format or even a cloud and download format.
We'll have to wait and see what Sony goes for in the end but it's exciting to think what this next-gen console could offer gamers by the time it comes out.
