PS5 Won’t Support External SSD Storage At Launch

The launch of the PS5 came this week, but one concern still hovers over the system, as well as the Xbox Series X/S. With each system only be launching with 1 terabyte of memory (Xbox Series S will launch with 512 gigs) and file-sizes for games increasing every year, most consumers would be smart and buy an external storage drive to increase space. While the Xbox Series X/S will launch alongside specially made memory cards, the PS5 will not support any form of external SSD storage at launch.

In an interview with The Verge, Sony has confirmed that no form of SSD storage will be available at launch but will be made available for an update in the future. Sony has not revealed any release window of when this update will go live. Although the PS5 does have a dedicated internal slot that will fit a stick-shaped M.2 SSD, it too will be disabled at the PS5’s launch.

During the “Road to the PS5” video that Sony released in March, Mark Cerny said that external SSD drives will be made available sometime after launch (timelap 20:00 – 23:30). Cerny also asks that consumers “hold off on getting that M.2 drive until you hear from us.” The reasoning for this is because not all M.2 SSDs are fast enough to keep up with the PS5, thin enough to fit into the SSD bay, or compatible with Sony’s I/O controller. The company will be testing which ones work and will update consumers after the PS5’s launch.

The PS5 will support external USB hard drives to play PS4 games or use it to store PS5 games that you won’t be playing. It should also be mentioned that if you play from an external USB hard drive, games won’t load as fast when installed to the PS5 directly.

The PS5 launched on November 12.