New report ‘leaks’ details of upgraded PS4 NEO

We’ve heard numerous reports that Sony is hard at work on a more powerful PlayStation 4. The so-called NEO, which is apparently pegged for later this year, is said to be capable of 4K and virtual-reality gaming.

Now, Giant Bomb has uncovered tech specifications for the upgraded console, citing “multiple sources” for the information.

The PS4 NEO features the same octacore AMD Jaguar processor as the PS4, albeit clocked at 2.1Ghz compared to the PS4’s 1.6Ghz clock speed.

As for the graphics department, you can apparently expect a better AMD graphics chip with 36 compute units at 911Mhz – compared to the PS4’s 18 compute units at 800Mhz.

The sources also claim that the PS4 NEO retains the same 8GB of fast GDDR5 RAM, albeit clocked at 218GB per second (the PS4 tops out at 176GB per second).

In another interesting tidbit, the website reports that every PS4 game will be required to have both a PS4 mode and a NEO mode.

“Starting in October, every PS4 game is required to ship with both a ‘Base Mode’ which will run on the currently available PS4 and a ‘NEO Mode’ for use on the new console,” the publication wrote, stressing that there will be no NEO-only titles.

Games running in NEO mode will see an increase in framerate and framerate stability, as well as better visuals (with 4K resolution supported).

The sources also say that Sony is explicitly forbidding developers from offering NEO-only unlockables and special gameplay modes.

News of the PS4 NEO comes several months after Xbox head Phil Spencer suggested hardware upgrades for the Xbox One.

Feature image: Farley Santos via Flickr