The new PS5 hardware revision CFI-1200 has hit retail stores earlier this month in Australia, and is scheduled to start selling in Japan on September 15th. It is significantly lighter than previous models, but it is unknown what has changed yet. This model was initially disclosed back in May.

Back in May, Sony had registered a “new” PS5 model, CFI-1200, which from our educated guess was a way to work around the ongoing chip shortage and worldwide distribution issues. Rather than significant changes, we predicted this model would be somehow easier to manufacture and distribute in the current economic situation.

Japanese retailer GEO have the CFI-1200 announced for sale on September 15th, in approximately two weeks. Meanwhile, Press Start report that the new model can already be found for sale in Australia.

New CFI-1200 PS5 as seen in Australian retailers, image from Press Start

New PS5 CFI 1200 specifications, image from Press Start

What’s interesting about CFI-1200 is that it seems to be significantly lighter than previous hardware revisions. Some of you might recall that an intermediate model, CFI-1100, was already being reported as lighter, because Sony had reduced the overall heatsink size (the jury’s still out as to whether this was an ok change from a customer’s perspective).

The new 1200 models are apparently even lighter than the 1100, which brings some questions: what has been removed this time? Have Sony found lighter material for some of their components? Is that what would explain the recent price hike?

• CFI-10**A (Disc Version) 4.5kg
• CFI-10**B (Digital Version) 3.9kg

• CFI-11**A (Disc Version) 4.2kg
• CFI-11**B (Digital Version) 3.6kg

• CFI-12**A (Disc Version) 3.9kg
• CFI-12**B (Digital Version) 3.4kg

The disc version of the PS5 sheds an impressive 600g, and 500g lost for the digital edition, since launch. Anecdotally, the Disc version now weighs the same as the digital version did at launch. It would be of course very interesting to know what has changed this time around, and whether this could impact performance or lifespan of the console.

Press Start speculate that this hardware revision will use a new AMD chipset, which should not impact performance overall, but is done solely for production efficiency (chipset availability) purposes. Such a change alone would not explain the change in weight, of course.