PlayStation 6 leak details a ray-tracing monster slated for 2027

A massive new leak has seemingly blown the lid off Sony’s next-generation console, detailing a PlayStation 6 powered by bleeding-edge AMD silicon that could offer a staggering 6- to 12-fold increase in ray-tracing performance over the PS5. The report, which originates from YouTuber Moore’s Law Is Dead and has been detailed by outlets like Digital Trends, points to a Fall 2027 launch window and suggests the PS6 will continue Sony’s recent strategy of offering a detachable disc drive.

Under the hood of a 2027 console

According to the latest rumors, the heart of the PS6 will be a custom AMD APU codenamed “Orion,” built on TSMC’s 3nm process. This chip will reportedly pack a CPU with eight Zen 6 cores, plus two additional low-power Zen 6 cores for system tasks. On the graphics side, the leak claims the console will use an RDNA 5-based GPU with 52 active compute units, delivering between 34 and 40 TFLOPS of raw power, a significant jump from the PS5’s 10.28 TFLOPs. As detailed by Wccftech, the system is also rumored to feature either 30GB or 40GB of GDDR7 memory, depending on Sony’s final pricing strategy.

A ray tracing leap to rival the PC elite

While the overall performance bump is notable, the most dramatic claim is the PS6’s potential ray-tracing capabilities. The leak suggests a 6- to 12-times improvement in ray tracing compared to the base PS5. At the high end of that estimate, its performance would be in the same territory as Nvidia’s current top-of-the-line PC graphics card, the RTX 5090, which launched in early 2025 boasting impressive path-tracing abilities, according to a report from Glass Almanac. This would represent a monumental leap for console hardware and for AMD, which has historically trailed Nvidia in ray-tracing prowess. By contrast, traditional rasterization performance is pegged for a more modest 2.5x to 3x uplift.

The detachable disc drive is sticking around

It seems the physical design philosophy of the current-gen “slim” PS5 is here to stay. According to reports from Insider Gaming, Sony is “firm” on its decision to launch the PS6 with a detachable disc drive. The console will likely be sold as a digital-only unit by default, with the drive available either bundled or as a separate purchase. This strategy reportedly met Sony’s internal sales targets with the PS5 and helps the company reduce manufacturing and shipping costs. As noted by PlayStation Lifestyle, this approach could lead to a simpler and more cost-effective base console design. Naturally, the PS6 is expected to maintain backward compatibility with both PS4 and PS5 games.

The road to next-gen

While Sony remains silent, the rumored Fall 2027 launch window sets the stage for the next console war. The leak suggests that Microsoft’s next Xbox, powered by an APU codenamed “Magnus,” may be around 25 percent more powerful but could also be more expensive and power-hungry due to a multi-die design. With new upscaling technologies like PSSR2 reportedly in development to help achieve targets like 4K at 120fps and 8K at 60fps, the next generation is shaping up to be another major step forward for console gaming, though for now, it all remains firmly in the realm of rumor.