Sony’s first PS5 software beta arrives with M.2 SSD support

Sony’s PS5 system software beta program is starting to roll out today, and it include access to the long-awaited M.2 SSD slot. The first PS5 beta is available for select users in the US, Canada, Japan, UK, Germany, and France. The beta includes some new UX enhancements and customizations, but the biggest addition is M.2 SSD expansion support.

Sony notes you’ll need an M.2 SSD that’s PCIe Gen4 and has read speeds of 5,500MB/s or faster. That’s largely what we were expecting, and it means a variety of Gen4 drives will be supported — including Samsung’s 980 Pro, Western Digital’s SN850s, and many other modern M.2 SSDs.

You may need to consider the cooling requirements for using an M.2 SSD in a PS5, though. “Using an M.2 SSD with your PS5 console requires effective heat dissipation with a cooling structure, such as a heatsink,” explains Sony. “You can attach one to your M.2 SSD yourself, either in a single-sided format, or double-sided format.”

While Sony notes that read speeds on Gen4 drives of 5,500MB/s or faster are recommended, it “cannot guarantee that all M.2 SSD devices meeting the described specifications will work with your console.” Playing games from this expandable storage may not have the “exact same performance” provided by the PS5’s internal drive, even if read speeds exceed 5,500MB/s.

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