Sony released PS5 Firmware 7.40 Today. As always I advise against updating if you are hoping to get your PS5 hacked down the line. Possibilities of a full Jailbreak for the PS5 remain however slim, and my status update on the PS5 Jailbreak possibilities in 2023 remains basically up to date.

PS5 23.01-07.40.00 – What’s new

This is, as is often the case for the PS5, a minor update. Nonetheless, people who want to access PlayStation’s online services will most likely need to update. Specifically, from the official changelog:

Version: 23.01-07.40.00

• We’ve improved system software performance and stability.
• We’ve improved the messages and usability on some screens.

Of course, there’s a possibility more has been changed under the hood, but we can’t tell for sure until the hacking community dives deeper into the update.

PS5 7.40 – Should you update?

As always, if your goal is to jailbreak your console, you should simply not update. The recent history of PlayStation hacking tells us so: people who keep their console up to date do not get the Jailbreaks.

The PS5 scene has been “stuck” without a proper homebrew environment so far, despite strong hopes when a Kernel Exploit was disclosed and implemented late 2022. What is possible to do with a hacked PS5 nowadays remains therefore extremely limited, and nothing has been announced for more recent firmwares.

It’s not all doom and gloom for the PS5 scene, with SpecterDev recently discussing his progress on the device at an infosec conference (we’re still waiting for the powerpoint on this one 😉 ), ZNullPtr announcing he’s been working on a Homebrew environment for hackable PS5s, and the PS5 Payload SDK getting regular updates.

But if anything, all of this tells us that opportunities to Jailbreak a PS5 will be few and far between, compared to previous generations. Which, to me, increases the importance of staying on a low firmware.

As always, the decision is yours, but updating, in general, lowers your chances of getting a Jailbreak down the line

In an ideal world, you would have 2 consoles: one that you keep on a low firmware for a Jailbreak (or buy a low firmware one if you can find it – tips for finding a low firmware PS5 /PS4), and one that you keep up to date in order to play your current gen games and access PlayStation online services. I know it’s easier said than done, but that’s how things are.