Rumor: Sony is Planning Switch-Style PlayStation 6 Portable Console - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 01 September 2025 / 28,509 Views
Sony is rumored to be planning to PlayStation 6 handheld with docking capabilities that is similar to the Nintendo Switch, according to Moore's Law is Dead (via VideoGamesChronicle).
The YouTubers claims to have seen multiple documents and that the PS6 handheld will reportedly release alongside a more powerful traditional PlayStation 6 home console. This is based on "up to date" documentation from graphics partner AMD.
The PS6 portable will reportedly have the ability to be docked to a TV and will be able to play games natively at power exceeding the base PS5 when it is docked.
The specs for the PS6 handheld will reportedly feature an AMD APU that has four Zen 6c Cores, and two additional cores dedicated to system tasks. It claimed to feature a 16 x RDNA 5 CUs GPU clocked at 1.2GHz in handheld mode, and 1.65GHz docked.
Moore's Law is Dead speculated the PS6 portable could launch in late 2027 for around $500.
This would be the first dedicated handheld from Sony since the PlayStation Vita, which released in 2011.
This should be treated as rumor until an official announcement is made.
Sony Interactive Entertainment's Hideaki Nishino previously stated the next-generation console of PlayStation won't be delayed.
"We believe that PS5 will have a long lifecycle, just like PS4," said Nishino at the time.
"However, I don’t think it is right to delay the timing of the launch of the next product that incorporates new technology because of the long time it will take. The timing for the launch of new hardware is related to the time frame in which technology evolves and the time frame in which we are able to implement that technology.
"Therefore, I think it is important to offer new products while people play the ones that are currently being used, and to expand the total number of games we offer."
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can follow the author on Bluesky.
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Dont know why the console war fanboys are in full force in the comments. This is a very interesting development that has a lot of potential. Hybrid consoles might be exactly what console gaming needs to stave off the eventual pc gaming takeover. If consoles are going to keep inflating their pricing, then at least offer features that pc gaming cannot.
Sure. But, I don't think it's fair to say that PC gaming doesn't offer portability at this point.
PC has had dockable devices for decades.
PC gaming will never take over. PC cases are generally bigger and bulkier and components are still much more expensive than consoles. It's just too inconvenient for the masses
It's okay for it not to take over. I just want it to continue being an available option since I've been enjoying it lately.
Building a pc gaming rig that exceeds ps5/series x performance, let alone matches, is very affordable. Especially if you go the used route. Only barrier to entry is the technical knowledge to build the pc yourself but it's not that complicated. Console gaming keeps getting more expensive while pc gaming only gets cheaper. Also you dont pay to play games online every year unlike consoles. Throw in steam sales. Theres a reason pc gaming keeps growing every year why consoles gaming seems to have plateau'd.
Well if one of the major console players (Xbox) throws in the towel and stops trying hard to sell consoles like they've done this gen, of course it will plateau. There was two major console players before, and now there is only one. PS5 was never going to match the combined sales of the PS4 + Xbone so no, it hasn't plateaued it's just Xbox dropped out.
Not sure I'd call it a dedicated handheld if it has a docked mode.
500?? You have to be really dumb to believe it will only cost that much.. lmao
You heard it first. There will be two consoles. Both will be slightly more powerful than PS5, ala Nintendo's way of doing business since the Wii. There will be a small, sleek, relatively-cheap home console version that, thanks to it basically being a re-packaged PS5, will launch for $399.99. Then there will be the handheld version of the exact same console, which will launch for either $49.99 more, or $99.99 more.
Home console people will be happy, handheld people will be happy and everyone will be happy at the price point. The only people that will be pissed are the tech-people. But their concerns will fade away. They always do.
To me this only works if PS5 is supported for the entirety of next gen.
No way are many PS5 owners, and especially PS5 Pro owners, going to pay $399 for basically a 10th gen PS5 with a few new bells and whistles. I could see this causing an insane amount of backlash.
The only way I see it working is if the launch home console is PS5 Pro level or higher, or if they add a third SKU that's PS5 Pro level or higher.
Oh, it would most certainly cause backlash online. After all, Playstation has been a brand historically known for upping the power each gen, so going the Nintendo rout would piss people off to the point of scorched earth territory.
But I believe this is what Sony feels they need to do. We've had multiple high-ranking people in the industry, even Shu himself, saying as much; that they need to re-think the idea of pushing the latest and greatest tech because it's just too expensive and takes too long to develop games for. So I believe this will be Sony's play. They will release hardware that's akin to a PS5 Pro with a tiny bump in a crucial area, sell it at an affordable price and offer two configurations that are in complete parity with themselves, a handheld and a home console. The vocal minority will scream doom, but it will pass, and when the games hit, and they're great, no one will talk about it anymore.
Well it seemed you only thought there would be 2 SKU's before.
I do believe a third powerful SKU would be needed. As you've said here, it could be PS5 Pro territory with new bells and whistles for a very affordable price.
I think the other option would be to maybe offer another $700-$750 console, that well exceeds PS5 Pro. I kinda think maybe that's why Pro was priced so high. To get power hungry gamers ready for future costs. This way SNY covers everyone and won't get much backlash. Yes the hardcore will complain a bit, but just because the price will be high is something everyone will be used to, and it will fade away without doing any damage to the brand as you said earlier.
Not sure which move makes the most sense, but either would work with a 3 SKU lineup.
It could happen, but I don't know if they'd want to go down the road. When you release two SKU's of varying power, you inevitably hold back the lower SKU. I'm not sure Sony would enjoy that headache. Also, the whole point of a lower SKU is so you can have parity between handheld and console as well as bring it to market at a happy price point. That goes out the window with a high-end SKU.
Another one to put into Ninty's collection of portables to destroy and dominate. Facts.
Now I need to see the reaction of Switch detractors as more portable options proliferate.
Good. Competition is a good thing.
Honestly, the handheld should not support every single PS6 game. The power gap will probably be more than Series S and X. There are sometimes where some games shouldn't be on Series S.
The key to any console future is innovation, people have to have a reason to buy the next on/upgrade and sadly Sony don't have Nintendo's back catalogue of titles to make new entries for.
But I'm not sure just copying Nintendo is the way to go, they did a lot of work on their controller's interactivity and a Switch like device might not work for that. If anything, I can see them just intergating the Portal as an included feature. Like a detachable screen like device but still a powerful machine.
I think it's clear Sony see's this as diversification, so I think it makes sense.
Game developers are not leaving the PS5 era of graphics/function for a while, a PS5 spec portable with some PS6 functionality (AI/RT) is more a less a future proofed device. Maybe it'll only sell 30m but I don't see there being much risk involved
But plz with power.
Under powered, already. Games will have the same graphic issues , engines not fully utilised, and wait for a "pro" version for better frame rates and quality graphics. And just like this gen, one game per gen, from a quality AAA developer.
This might be the next step of evolution for future consoles lol,
Although ps5 is still selling like hotcakes despite price increase,
Next gen console won't be different from a gaming pc except for the "timed" exclusives lol
So those complaining about the Series S holding back the generation, just remember to keep that same energy.
Would depend on what the devs have to say. If they're not upset then it won't be seen as the same.
Also, if by some rare chance, the home console wasn't beyond PS5 Pro 16TF, as few have predicted, that would totally remove this hold back argument since all the hardware could be said to be holding back next gen, right from launch.
Devs are lazy. If they cant optimise for GPUs like the 4090s, what makes us believe their opinions matter on weaker hardware.
A games design is based on the lowest entry for its ecosystem.
Maybe because many devs are lazy, yet they make the games, and everyone agrees that the games are what matter most.
Isn't that one of the big reasons as to why Cerny has been praised so much? Because he's been catering to the devs as much as possible with the hardware?
Also, if a games design is based on the lowest entry, that should mean Series S games always play as good as the Series X. Which they don't.
1) Have you seen the quality of some of the game releases? Many are lazy = lack of effort, funding, time.
2) Game design isn't just about graphics, its also how ambitious they can go, and majority of the time, that is limited to Hardware. If you build a game on a Mobile device, that game will be limited by scope, PS5 and XSX will run it at maximum graphic settings BUT the scope of the game won't change.
So can devs not optimize for higher tier hardware? Are they just too lazy to do so, or is there no time or budget for that, or is the lower tier hardware holding them back enough that there's not really much to optimize beyond that, once the game is complete for the lowest entry point?
I will be humble and say, "you are right".
Next gen we are going to have:
"Classic" Playstation 6.
Playstation Portable.
Playstation "Mini". ( PSP with no screen or controls)
"Mini" and PSP are going to hold back PS6, facts.
Who agrees that PS2 held back 6th gen?
PS2 did hold back the 6th gen (outside of Exclusives and Paid 3rd party games)
PS2 started 6th gen 1 year early, unless you want to include Dreamcast, in which case then it held back 6th gen, not PS2, while GCN and XBOX were way late to the party, which you could also say held 6th gen back from moving on.
Then again, XB360 kicked off 7th gen 1 year ahead of PS3 (for strategy).
Even if you still held the belief that PS2 held back 6th gen, look at what that did for console gaming and SNY. Wasn't exactly a bad thing.
Dreamcast did hold the gen back also, but due to it being unpopular, Devs avoided it. PS2 held back the 3rd party from utilizing the GC and Xbox hardware because they would have used the PS2 as the default console choice (Outside of paid 3rd party exclusives on the GN and XB)
As powerful as XBOX was, it was replaced in just 4 years.
PS2 may have had weaker hardware than GCN and XBOX, but it's hard to say it held things back when it's the highest selling of all time. Due to that popularity, it was the go to console for devs.
So did the PS2 really hold things back or expand them? If it did hold things back, then it's really the consumers who did, because if they had all bought GCN or XBOX instead, those would've been the go to defaults.
I dont think you understand what "holding back the gen means"
Majority of 3rd party games were on the PS2, making them less graphically intensive due to the weaker hardware.
This would be no different to the Wii if majority of 3rd party games would have been made on that platform instead of the PS3/360. Same as the PS2 to GC/XB.
If PS2 was $100-$200 more with better hardware and launched a year later, which led to say, 125M sales instead of 160M, would that have been moving things ahead? Is less gamers moving things ahead? Would shorter gens be moving things ahead?
Im not sure the point of your question.
All I am pointing out is the PS2 was the default console for 3rd party devs which means those games were held back on inferior hardware to the PCs, GC and XBs at the time.
If the PS2 had the similar output of the CG and XB then it wouldn't hold back the gen.
Do you think 10th gen would be better off with $1000 hardware that nobody could afford?
It would sure allow for some fantastical games, but what good is that if only few are able to play them?
Let me ask you the same question.
Would you have been happy if all games in the 7th gen were made on the Wii and ported across to the PS3/360 with all the Wii limitations?
Thats exactly what the PS2 was in the 6th gen.
Just because a system sold more does not mean its not holding back a generation of games in scope and size.
And to anwser your question, no. Hardware doesn't need to be $1000 each, they should however be similar or close in design.
How many PS3/360 games were ported to Wii? Why not? No I'd say it's not the same thing.
Did PS3 and 360 hold back 7th gen due to lack of motion controls, which didn't show up until later in the gen?
So as long as everyone's hardware was around $250, that's good enough and not holding anything back next gen?
Pricing has nothing to do with it. Its about preformance. Scope of games will be limited on lesser hardware.
You can't get a 10th gen leap with $250 hardware.
$1000 next gen hardware and no one can afford it.
So what exactly holds back a generation?
What will hold back a generation is if the default platform of choice by the Devs is the weakest in terms of preformance by a fair margin.
GC and XB were leagues ahead of the PS2 in preformance yet Devs didn't utilise them so games were mostly built on inferior hardware which would have restricted the scope of the game.
We saw plenty of good examples of games pushing boundaries when not built around PS2 hardware like Rogue Leader on GC and Splinter Cell on XB.
So you're saying the only gen this hasn't been a problem was 8th gen with PS4?
Every other gen has always been held back?
So the norm is for gens to be held back?
Yes.
When devs dont chose the weakest hardware as the default system of choice.
Great cant wait for a digital only ps6/handheld now only 699
Nah it will be 799 and less powerful than the base PS5
Lots of money wasted and efforts for nothing if the console doesn't have some juicy exclusive of its own.
But why do I care? I don't need a portable console. Actually, who does?
I don't need or want a portable either. If we only get a (dockable) handheld that's around PS5 power, and a home console beyond PS5 Pro power, I'm going to be hugely disappointed, and will be going PC.
I have a gaming pc with great specs, and i spend most of my time playing steam games on my Steam Deck. Spoke to multiple other pc players at work and they've said the same thing. Portability makes a difference. If it didnt, most of nintendo's console sales would be wiped out
If Nintendo consoles are anything to go by then... probably millions of people?
