It was previously called PlayStation 4.5 and PlayStation 4K, until Giant Bomb mentioned it as the PlayStation Neo. It is considered to be an upgrade to the current console, to accommodate the upcoming PlayStation VR, a virtual reality gadget that put gaming experience on another level and increase the output resolution to 4K. But aside from these, what are known so far?

The PlayStation Neo is said to contain 8 Jaguar Cores running at 2.1 GHz, AMD GCN with 36 CU (compute units) running at 911 MHz for its GPU and 8GB of GDDR5 RAM with 218 GB/s bandwidth. This is slightly more powerful than the original PlayStation 4, which contains 8 Jaguar Cores at 1.6 GHz, AMD GCN with 18 CU at 800 MHz and 8GB GDDR5 RAM with 176 GB/s bandwidth.

The hardware improvement will cover the requirements of its soon-to-be-released VR headset and display that can produce 4K resolution. Sony also mentioned that it is not requiring game developers to make their products 4K native, but if it meets or surpass the current frame rates on the current console, their machine can produce a better visual output.

Based on several reports, Sony also assured fans that games running on the current console will be compatible with the Neo, and even mentioned that it is prohibiting game developers from creating games, features or modes exclusively to the upcoming model. The company wants both consoles to co-exist and does not want to shorten the PS4's life cycle.

The formal announcement of the PlayStation Neo is rumored to happen on Sept. 15 during the Tokyo Game Show. It is also expected that the PlayStation Slim will be introduced as well, Valuewalk reported. The Slim version is guessed to be similar to what the Xbox Slim can offer, an improvement in terms of output, a 4K resolution, but in a smaller form factor.

Fans can expect more information about the PlayStation Neo in the months to come. No information is available about its pricing and release date.