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PLAYSTATION 5: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT SONY’S NEWEST CONSOLES
The next generation of PlayStation is finally here with the arrival of the PS5. This generation, it seems like Sony is sticking with the approach that made the PS4 so successful: sell consoles that can play first-party games from Sony’s storied franchises, and supplement that lineup with great third-party titles, too. You should expect to see better graphics in your games, and the PS5 will also support high refresh rates, which should make games feel smoother (if you have a display that supports those refresh rates). Plus, the PS5’s custom SSD promises to offer such a leap forward in loading speeds that it could change the way games are designed.
We’ve already reviewed the PS5, and it turns out that the console is pretty good. Its new controller is amazing, games load quickly, and the console has a more streamlined user interface than the PS4. We felt that it left a great first impression — even if there aren’t a lot of actual next-generation games to play just yet.
Experience lightning-fast loading with an ultra-high speed SSD, deeper immersion with support for haptic feedback, adaptive triggers and 3D Audio, and an all-new generation of incredible PlayStation® games.
THERE ARE ACTUALLY TWO PS5 CONSOLES, BUT THEY’RE LARGELY THE SAME
Like Microsoft, Sony is actually selling two versions of its upcoming next-generation console. For $499.99, you can buy a PS5 with a 4K Blu-ray drive. But for $100 less, at $399.99, you can buy the Digital Edition PS5 (which also looks noticeably thinner than its more expensive sibling). Unlike Microsoft, the only thing that differentiates those two versions is which console has a disc drive and how much each one costs.
The PS5 is powered by a custom eight-core AMD Zen 2 CPU and a custom AMD Radeon RDNA 2-based GPU that will provide 10.28 teraflops of raw graphical power. The console also uses variable frequencies on both the PS5’s CPU and GPU, which could theoretically push the graphics to run slightly faster than normal when the CPU isn’t running at peak. Though it sounds like the difference is minimal based on this technical presentation (skip to 35:30):
Integrated I/O
And the game-changing SSD I mentioned earlier? It has 825GB of storage and 5.5GB/s of throughput — which could be fast enough to let game developers build levels without things like elevator rides or winding corridors that actually mask levels loading in the background. Just look at how much faster PS5 games loaded than their PS4 versions in our testing:
Stunning games
Marvel At Incredible graphics and experience new PS5 features
Ray tracing
Immerse yourself in worlds with a new level of realism as rays of light are individually simulated, creating true-to-life shadows and reflections in supported PS5™ games.
4K-TV gaming
Play your favorite PS5™ games on your stunning 4K TV.
p to 120fps with 120Hz output
Enjoy smooth and fluid high frame rate gameplay at up to 120fps for compatible games, with support for 120Hz output on 4K displays.
PS5 LOAD TIMES
| Game | PS5 | PS4 |
|---|---|---|
| Spider-Man: Miles Morales | 17 seconds | 1 minute, 27 seconds |
| No Man’s Sky | 1 minute, 34 seconds | 2 minutes, 52 seconds |
| Final Fantasy VII Remake | 35 seconds | 1 minute, 29 seconds |
| Genshin Impact | 59 seconds | 2 minutes, 57 seconds |
| Ghost of Tsushima | 1 minute, 4 seconds | 1 minute, 10 seconds |
| Days Gone | 1 minute, 18 seconds | 2 minutes, 54 seconds |
| Death Stranding | 54 seconds | 1 minute, 50 seconds |
You should know, though, that some of that 825GB of storage space is used up by system data, though, meaning that you actually have 667.2GB of usage space. And the ever-growing size of games means that you might fill up that usable space quickly. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War takes up 133GB, for example, which is nearly 20 percent of the console’s available storage.
If you want to expand the PS5’s storage, you won’t be able to at launch, but at some point in the future, you’ll be able to slot in a Sony-certified M.2 SSD. We’re not exactly sure when that those SSDs might become available. Back in March, PS5 lead system architect Mark Cerny said the SSD certifications will likely happen “a bit past” the console’s launch.
Adaptive triggers
Get to grips with immersive adaptive triggers, featuring dynamic resistance levels which simulate the physical impact of in-game activities in select PS5 games.
Haptic feedback
Experience haptic feedback via the DualSense wireless controller in select PS5 titles and feel the effects and impact of your in-game actions through dynamic sensory feedback.
PS5 VS XBOX SERIES X VS XBOX SERIES S
| Categories | PS5 | PS5 (digital-only) | Xbox Series X | Xbox Series S |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPU | Eight Zen 2 Cores @ 3.5GHz with SMT (variable frequency) | Eight Zen 2 Cores @ 3.5GHz with SMT (variable frequency) | Eight-core AMD Zen 2 CPU @ 3.8GHz (3.6GHz with SMT enabled) | Eight-core AMD Zen 2 CPU @ 3.6GHz (3.4GHz with SMT enabled) |
| GPU | AMD RDNA 2 GPU 36 CUs @ 2.23GHz (variable frequency) | AMD RDNA 2 GPU 36 CUs @ 2.23GHz (variable frequency) | AMD RDNA 2 GPU 52 CUs @ 1.825GHz | AMD RDNA 2 GPU 20 CUs @ 1.565GHz |
| GPU Power | 10.28 TFLOPs | 10.28 TFLOPs | 12.15 TFLOPS | 4 TFLOPS |
| RAM | 16GB GDDR6 RAM | 16GB GDDR6 RAM | 16GB GDDR6 RAM | 10GB GDDR6 RAM |
| Performance Target | Target TBD. Up to 8K. Up to 120fps | Target TBD. Up to 8K. Up to 120fps | Target 4K @ 60fps. Up to 8K. Up to 120fps | Target 1440p @ 60fps. Up to 120fps |
| Storage | 825GB PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD (5.5GB/s uncompressed, typical 8-9GB/s compressed). Usable storage is 667.2GB | 825GB PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD (5.5GB/s uncompressed, typical 8-9GB/s compressed). Usable storage is 667.2GB | 1TB PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD (2.4GB/s uncompressed, 4.8GB/s compressed). Usable storage is 802GB | 512GB PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD (2.4GB/s uncompressed, 4.8GB/s compressed). Usable storage is 364GB |
| Expandable Storage | NVMe SSD slot | NVMe SSD slot | 1TB expansion card | 1TB expansion card |
| Backward Compatibility | The “overwhelming majority” of the more than 4,000 PS4 games. Some PS3 and PS2 titles playable via PlayStation Now. | The “overwhelming majority” of the more than 4,000 PS4 games. Some PS3 and PS2 titles playable via PlayStation Now. | “Thousands” of Xbox One, Xbox 360, original Xbox games. Xbox One accessories. | “Thousands” of Xbox One, Xbox 360, original Xbox games. Xbox One accessories. |
| Disc Drive | 4K UHD Blu-ray | None | 4K UHD Blu-ray | None |
| Display Out | HDMI 2.1 | HDMI 2.1 | HDMI 2.1 | HDMI 2.1 |
| MSRP | $499 / £449 / €499 | $399 / £359 / €399 | $499 / £449 / €499 | $299 / £249 / €299 |
The PS5 supports up to 8K output and promises 4K graphics at up to a 120Hz refresh rate. The console’s improved horsepower also means that you can expect to see ray tracing, which can lead to more realistic effects in game environments like reflections in windows. Check out ray tracing Spider-Man: Remastered in this video from Tom Warren:
XBOX SERIES X AND S: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE NEXT GEN OF XBOX
The next-generation of Xbox gaming is a little more complicated than what we’re used to. For starters, Microsoft has released not one but two new consoles this week: the Xbox Series X and the Xbox Series S. Many of the initial crop of first-party games is also designed to be playable on its last generation Xbox, the Xbox One, as well as Windows PCs. And that’s before we get into Microsoft’s game streaming service, xCloud, which could mean you won’t need any Xbox hardware at all to play many of the latest games.
Each new generation tends to deliver big changes for console gaming, and Microsoft’s successors to the Xbox One are no different. Games look better, thanks to more powerful graphics hardware and built-in support for more realistic lighting technology, and in some cases feel more responsive, thanks to support for frame rates of up to 120fps. They also load quicker because both consoles now include fast solid-state storage, a big improvement over the mechanical hard drive included in the Xbox One.
But Microsoft’s approach to this new generation is a big departure from how console launches have worked previously. Typically, we’ve seen Sony and Microsoft release just one new piece of hardware at launch, and each one tends to come with an exclusive library of games that you have to buy the new console in order to play. While Sony, too, has operated a game streaming service for years, it’s only typically used PlayStation Now to offer access to older titles, rather than brand-new releases like xCloud is promising.
Microsoft’s new consoles give you a lot more freedom with how you play its new games, but depending on where you choose to play them, you won’t get exactly the same experience. The Xbox Series X is a much more powerful machine than the Series S or the current Xbox One, for example, which has a big impact on performance.
XBOX SERIES X LOAD TIMES
Microsoft has a good rundown of the main differences between the Xbox Series X and the Series S on its website. Both have 8-core CPUs, although the X has a slightly higher maximum clock speed of 3.8GHz, rather than 3.6GHz on the Series S. Both support expandable storage of up to 1TB via an expansion card, both output over HDMI 2.1, and both are backwards compatible with “thousands” of Xbox One, Xbox 360, and original Xbox games. Both support hardware-accelerated ray tracing for more realistic lighting in games, both support Dolby’s high-end Atmos audio technology, and both will support the Dolby Vision HDR standard. They’re also both backwards compatible with all officially licensed Xbox One accessories like controllers and headsets — although there are no plans to support the Kinect camera.
There are, however, big differences between the two. The Series X has a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray drive, but the Series S is digital-only, so you’ll have to download your games rather than buy them on disc. And yet, the disc-based X also has double the amount of internal storage with 1TB as opposed to 512GB. We found the storage in the Series S filled up quickly as a result. The Series X also has more RAM at 16GB compared to 10GB in the Series S. Physically, the Series S is also a lot smaller than the Series X; Microsoft calls the console its “smallest Xbox ever.” Despite the size differences, we’ve found both consoles have good cooling systems and are run cool and quiet when in use, so long as you don’t try blowing vape smoke into them.
Although they have different amounts of storage, both consoles use fast solid-state drives. For starters, that means that games load very quickly. We’ve found that many games that took over a minute to load on the Xbox One X now boot up in seconds. Games like Destiny 2 and Sea of Thieves, for example, load in half the time on the Series X as they did on the One X, and we found The Outer Worlds loaded in just six seconds on the new console.
XBOX SERIES X LOAD TIMES
| Game | Xbox Series X | Xbox One X |
|---|---|---|
| CoD: Warzone | 16 seconds | 21 seconds |
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 52 seconds | 1 min, 35 seconds |
| The Outer Worlds | 6 seconds | 27 seconds |
| Evil Within 2 | 33 seconds | 43 seconds |
| Sea of Thieves | 20 seconds | 1 min, 21 seconds |
| Warframe | 25 seconds | 1 min, 31 seconds |
| AC: Odyssey | 30 seconds | 1 min, 7 seconds |
| No Man’s Sky | 1 min, 27 seconds | 2 mins, 13 seconds |
| Destiny 2 | 43 seconds | 1 min, 52 seconds |
This fast storage also helps enable a feature called Quick Resume on both consoles, which allows you to switch between games incredibly quickly in a lot of cases. The big problem right now is that it’s not supported by every game, although Microsoft is working to enable it across more titles. When it works, though, Quick Resume is one of the consoles’ best new additions, and Sony’s PS5 doesn’t have an equivalent feature.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE SERIES X AND S
One of the most significant differences between the Series S and Series X is found in the graphics department. Although both consoles use AMD’s RDNA 2 graphics architecture, the Series X has 52 compute units. That’s not only more than double the 20 compute units you’ll find in the Series S, but they’re also clocked faster at 1.825GHz compared to 1.565GHz. In total, that means the Series X has 12.15 teraflops of graphical horsepower according to Microsoft, compared to 4 teraflops for the Series S.
The Xbox Series X is technically a shade more powerful than the PS5 in the graphics department. While Sony’s consoles are also based on AMD’s RDNA 2 architecture, both models of the PS5 clock in with 10.28 teraflops of GPU power. They’ve got a smaller number of compute units (36), but their maximum cap is higher at 2.23GHz. They’ve also got 8-core CPUs, but they’re clocked at 3.5GHz. However, it’s important to note that the PS5’s CPU and GPU clock speeds are variable based on the total workload, so it’s not quite an apples-to-apples comparison with the new Xbox consoles. This approach could benefit the PS5 in certain scenarios but limit it in others. Otherwise, the PS5’s specs on paper are similar to the Series X. It has 16GB of RAM, 825GB of storage, and a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray drive.
There aren’t many cross-platform titles that allow us to see how the performance of the PS5 and Series X compare in practice, but an analysis of Devil May Cry 5 by Digital Foundry sees Sony and Microsoft’s consoles performing very similarly. In some modes, the Series X offers slightly faster performance, while the PS5 is ahead in others.
Like Microsoft, Sony also has a step-down digital-only version of its next console, but here, the differences are a lot more basic. The lack of a disc drive means that the digital console is a little slimmer, but otherwise, PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan tells CNET that its two consoles are “identical products.” That means we shouldn’t see the same power disparity as Microsoft has.
IPHONE 12 SERIES
Apple on October 13, 2020 introduced its newest flagship iPhones, the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini, which offer powerful features at an affordable price tag. Sold alongside the more expensive iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max, the iPhone 12 and 12 mini are ideal for anyone who doesn’t need Pro camera features.
The 6.1-inch iPhone 12 is a successor to the iPhone 11, while the 5.4-inch iPhone 12 is an all-new size and marks the smallest iPhone Apple has introduced since the 2016 iPhone SE. Aside from screen size and battery size, the two phones are technically identical. With its small size, the iPhone 12 mini will be ideal for those who prefer an iPhone that can be used one-handed.
All iPhone models this year feature Super Retina XDR OLED displays for the first time, with an edge-to-edge design with the exception of the Face ID notch and small bezels around the edge. There’s no difference in display quality between the standard iPhone 12 models and the Pro models.
The 5.4-inch iPhone 12 mini has a resolution of 2430 x 1080 with 476 pixels per inch and the 6.1-inch iPhone 12 has a resolution of 2532 x 1170 with 460 pixels per inch. The displays offer HDR support with 1200 nits peak brightness, Wide Color for vivid, true-to-life colors, Haptic Touch for feedback, and True Tone to match the color temperature of the display to the ambient lighting for a more natural viewing experience.
Apple overhauled the design of the iPhone 12 lineup this year, introducing flat edges that are a departure from the rounded edges of prior models and are similar in design to the iPad Pro. The front of the iPhone is protected by a new Ceramic Shield cover that replaces the standard cover glass. Apple says the Ceramic Shield is infused with nano-ceramic crystals and offers 4x better drop performance.
The back of the iPhone continues to be made from glass, with the two halves of the device sandwiching an aerospace-grade aluminum enclosure that comes in five colors: blue, green, black, white, and (PRODUCT)RED. Like the iPhone 12 Pro models, the iPhone 12 models offer IP68 water and dust resistance and can hold up to submersion in 6 meters of water for up to 30 minutes.
All of the iPhone 12 models in this year’s lineup support 5G connectivity for faster downloads and uploads, better quality video streaming, improved gaming, and higher-definition 1080p FaceTime calls. 5G coverage is available worldwide, but only iPhone 12 devices sold in the United States support mmWave 5G, which is the fastest 5G technology available.
iPhone 12 models sold in other countries are limited to the slower but more widely available Sub-6GHz 5G connectivity. In the U.S., 5G speeds can be as high as 4Gbps, even in highly populated areas.
APPLE IPHONE 12 PRO MAX REVIEW: THE BEST SMARTPHONE CAMERA YOU CAN GET
The iPhone 12 Pro Max is a big phone. The biggest iPhone ever made, in fact.
The Pro Max’s 6.7-inch display is the largest screen ever on an iPhone. It has the biggest camera sensor of any iPhone, including the three other iPhone 12 models Apple announced this year. It has a 5G radio, and it’s got a bigger battery. It is without question the most iPhone you can get.
And while it’s expensive, it’s not that much more expensive than the smaller iPhone 12 Pro: it’s just $100 more at every storage level, starting at $1,099 with 128GB of storage and going up to $1,399 for 512GB of storage. For that money, you get a larger display, a bigger battery, and a very different camera system. I’ll just cut to the chase and say it’s absolutely worth it over the standard 12 Pro if you can deal with the size — but it’s a lot of size. And the camera is worth exploring in depth, because there’s a lot going on.
Like I said, it’s the most iPhone you can get.
IPHONE 12 PRO MAX CAMERA
Aside from the large size, the main thing that sets the iPhone 12 Pro Max apart from the rest of the iPhone 12 line is the camera system, which is substantially different and more capable than the cameras on the smaller 12 and 12 Pro.
The basics are the same as the 12 Pro: three cameras including a wide, an ultrawide, and a tele, with a LIDAR sensor that enables portrait photos on the wide camera in Night mode. Night mode is available at all three zoom levels now, which is an improvement over the iPhone 11.
The ultrawide camera is the same as on the 12 and 12 Pro, and it’s a noticeable improvement over the ultrawide on the 11 Pro. I think it’s useful and fun to have an ultrawide, but it still takes medium-quality photos compared to the main camera.
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It’s the main wide camera and the telephoto that are very different on the 12 Pro Max. The wide has the same f/1.6 lens as the 12 and 12 Pro, but it also has a 47-percent larger physical sensor that can capture more light with less noise. The wide camera is also stabilized differently than the other iPhone 12 models, which have traditional lens-based optical image stabilization to reduce vibrations and thus blur.
The 12 Pro Max uses sensor-shift stabilization, which moves the sensor itself around to reduce vibrations. Apple tells me the move to sensor-shift stabilization on the 12 Pro Max was more about making this sensor size work to its standards than overall performance, but that the system on the 12 Pro Max is slightly more effective at reducing a wider range of vibrations than the OIS on the 12 Pro.
(As an aside for camera nerds, Apple keeps calling this “sensor-shift OIS,” which doesn’t quite make sense because the lens isn’t involved. It’s more like the in-body stabilization you’ll find on Sony and Panasonic mirrorless cameras. But I digress.)
The bigger sensor also has an impressive maximum ISO, which is a measure of light sensitivity. The iPhone 11 Pro had a top ISO of 3,072, the regular iPhone 12 Pro has a top ISO of 5,808, and the 12 Pro Max has a top ISO of 7,616. As the numbers go up, the amount of noise at any given ISO tends to go down, which means images from the iPhone 12 Pro Max are generally less noisy than the 12 Pro’s.
IPHONE 12 PRO MAX PERFORMANCE AND BATTERY LIFE
The iPhone 12 Pro Max is a big phone, and as such, it has a big battery. And so battery life is terrific. At home, on WiFi, I saw screen-on times of as long as 14 hours as I doomscrolled through our interminable election, with an average of well over eight hours in more reasonable (and healthy) use over the course of a week. Now, I’m not leaving my house as much as I did before the pandemic, and I didn’t test a lot on 5G or even LTE, but with numbers like that, I’d expect battery life overall to be tremendous in almost any circumstance. Big phone, big battery, big battery life. It makes the lack of a 120Hz display puzzling.
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I’m just going to say it again: the iPhone 12 Pro Max is a very big phone. Big ambition, big camera sensor, big… size. I’ve been using it for a week, and I still haven’t gotten used to how big it is. I’m curious to see how accessory makers handle the size.
But the size allows for what I think is easily the best and most capable smartphone camera on the market right now, and a battery that seems to last forever. If you can deal with the size, I think it’s worth passing over the 12 Pro and getting the 12 Pro Max. Those are two dramatic and meaningful improvements for the money. This is a tremendous phone.
But I can’t shake the feeling that the iPhone 12 Pro Max very much feels like the perfect phone for the life I led before the pandemic. I used to spend a lot of time commuting, and on airplanes, and otherwise out and about getting work done on my phone. I used to go to a lot of events at night and take a lot of photos in bars. My notes indicate that I used to care a lot about mobile network speeds. This phone would have made significant improvements to all those things, but right now it just feels like another screen for social media on the couch.
I have a kid, and I always buy the latest phone to have the best camera. And there’s no question that this is the best camera. But if you’re feeling that usual tug to upgrade and you don’t need to, I do think you can wait this one out. Maybe 5G will be better next year. Maybe we’ll get that 120Hz display.