PS4 Slim unveiled – UK price and release date revealed at PlayStation Meeting

Update: Sony has officially unveiled the PS4 Slim at its PlayStation Meeting, revealing more details about the once rogue console including its price and UK release date.

We’ve known about the PS4 Slim for a little while now, but Sony only just made it official over in New York at its PlayStation Meeting event. The PS4 Slim will replace the existing PlayStation and is officially just called the PS4.

We also learnt more about the new system’s price and UK release date. Here’s what you need to know.

Related: 4K PS4 Pro revealed – what you need to know

PS4 Slim price and release date – When is it coming out?

At the PlayStation Meeting, Sony confirmed that the PS4 Slim will be in “most markets” by September 15, which is more or less when we thought it would start landing.

Official UK pricing has been announced as £259, while it’ll cost $299 in the US and €299 in the EU.

Image via Eurogamer

PS4 Slim specs – How powerful is it?

Exact specs weren’t discussed at the PlayStation meeting, but we’re pretty sure it’ll be just as powerful as the original PS4, lacking the hardware upgrades intended for the PS4 Pro.

However, Sony may well have made some subtle (or major) changes to the internal components. According to @shortmaneighty2, for instance, the console will come with support for both 2.4GHz and 5GHz wireless bands – an improvement over the existing console which only supports the former band.

https://twitter.com/statuses/769988522937810944

That should mean faster download and upload speeds, though it remains unclear whether the new Wi-Fi support will be limited to just the ‘N’ protocol, which is older than the current ‘AC’ Wi-Fi.

And finally, the PS4 Slim will be “VR-ready” according to official packaging, meaning you’ll get a simple plug-and-play VR experience when it comes to setting up PlayStation VR this October.

PS4 Slim design – What’s different?

There’s no prizes for guessing here. While the exact dimensions and weight have still to be confirmed, we know the PS4 Slim will basically be a more svelte (and likely curvier) version of its big sibling.

The hard drive will be situated inside a bay on the left-hand side, which can be removed and upgraded for increased storage capacity.

The light that once ran atop the original PS4 is no more.

The DualShock 4 has also had a bit of a makeover. As you can see from the Tweet below, the controller now has a light bar on the touchpad:

https://twitter.com/statuses/767983246424539136

In terms of inputs, PS4 Slim will have at least two USBs, HDMI, Ethernet and PlayStation Camera ports. The previously present optical output is a goner.

And there’s the aforementioned support for faster Wi-Fi, which is yet to be confirmed but should provide faster download and upload speeds as we mentioned.

Image via ZRZ

PS4 Slim Games – What can you play on it?

The PS4 Slim is expected to be fully capable of running all current and upcoming titles, including those coming to PSVR. However, it’s not expected to get the same performance upgrade as the Pro, so it’s unlikely to be capable of 4K upscaling.

It’s possible we may see a small performance boost, much like Microsoft’s given the Xbox One S, although it’s worth noting that the PS4 already performs at a higher resolution than the Xbox with the majority of games across both systems.

PS4 Slim – First impressions

After all the leaks and rogue listings in the build up to the PlayStation Meeting, it’s nice to finally have an idea of what we’re getting with the PS4 Slim.

It looks like a solid slimline redesign of the original console, acting as an entry-level platform for new users ahead of the launch of Sony’s new 4K flagship system, which we now know is called the PS4 Pro.

WATCH: Everything we know about PS4 Pro

What are your thoughts on the PS4 Slim? Let us know in the comments below.