PS4 Neo Specifications Leaked

What seems to be a confidential presentation for the PS4 Neo has been made available on the Internet. It includes information its specifications and developer guidelines among other things.

According to the presentation it uses the same "Jaguar" cores as the original sporting 8 cores at 2.1GHz making it 1.3x faster than the PS4. It uses an enhanced version the original PS4's GPU as well promising 36 compute units running at 911MHz translating into a 2.3x improvement in terms of teraflops.

The PS4 Neo will use the same 8GB GDDR5 memory albeit with a higher bandwidth of 218 gigabits per second versus the original's 174 gigabits per second. Surprisingly the hard drive configuration remains the same, so expect it in 500GB and 1TB variants.

(Also see: PS4 Neo and PS4 Slim to Be Announced in September: Report)

Furthermore, submissions for games to run on the PS4 Neo will begin next month. The process of including Neo support depends on the release date of the title. Games releasing late September and prior will be "PS4-only submission with Neo Day-1 patch" while all games from October onwards have to be for the PS4 and the PS4 Neo with Sony adding that "it is OK to release Neo-ready titles before Neo launches."

A lot of the information in the presentation pertains to rendering techniques and resolution. Sony believes that games at 1440p on 4K displays doesn't allow for much distinction from the usual 1080p games, rather it hopes that "titles will use checkerboard rendering (and similar techniques) to allow for resolutions much closer to 2160p."

(Also see: PS4 Neo Will Not Make the PS4 Obsolete: Sony)

Also, the presentation reveals one strategy for Neo game development is to "ensure that the Neo frame rate meets or exceeds the frame rate of the game on the original PlayStation 4" perhaps to allow substantial variation between the PS4 Neo and the PS4.

Nonetheless, some of this information may not be final and subject to change. However, some segments do tie in with what we've heard from publishers in the past, that their upcoming releases from October onwards have to support the PS4 Neo.

As per a report in The Wall Street Journal, Macquarie Securities analyst Damian Thong said Sony might also introduce a smaller PS4 along with the PS4 Neo. Thong believes they would be revealed at a game show in September. For its part Sony declined to comment.

A September announcement for the device would hold ground what with the likes of Eurogamer and French video game distributor Innelec claiming a release this year.

While Sony has acknowledged its existence but yet to formally announce it or what it would be called when it finally hits retail, the company has made it a point for fans to know that it will not replace the PS4 in any way.