PlayStation 6's RAM and Storage Alone Could Cost $680, Leaker Claims

The PlayStation 6 hasn't even been announced yet, but rumors are already circulating about what to expect from Sony's next-gen console. The latest claim is a shocker: the RAM and storage alone could cost more than an entire PS5.

The rumor comes from a lengthy NeoGaf thread about next-gen hardware, where known leaker Kepler_L2 stated, "RAM + NAND alone is over $680." This was in response to someone hoping the console would launch at around $680. But if Kepler_L2's numbers are accurate—and they should be taken with a grain of salt—that seems unlikely.

This isn't the first time Kepler_L2 has shared leaked manufacturing costs for the PS6. Back in March, they suggested the Bill of Materials (BoM) would be $760. However, due to the ongoing RAM crisis, they revised that estimate in June, saying costs had risen by about $200. That puts the estimated BoM at $960, which doesn't even include R&D, marketing, and shipping. Keep in mind that Sony has yet to make any official statement about the PS6's price.

While the RAM and SSD costs are high, the rest of the console's hardware could be pricey too. This speculation stems from a thread responding to Kepler_L2's earlier claim that the PS6 would have a GPU with around 40 teraflops of compute performance, while Project Helix would be around 56 teraflops. Teraflops aren't the best indicator of gaming performance, but if these numbers are correct, the PS6 would be a little more than twice as powerful as the PS5 Pro, with a GPU roughly between the Radeon RX 9070 and Radeon RX 9070 XT.

For reference, the Radeon RX 9070 currently costs around $900 due to ongoing price increases, but even at launch it was a $549 part. Part of that cost is the VRAM, which would be included in Kepler_L2's $680 figure, but the GPU itself is still a huge portion of the cost. Sony would likely get a bulk discount, but the chips powering the PS6 will probably still add a couple hundred dollars to the equation.

So, I wouldn't be surprised if the total manufacturing cost of the PS6 crosses the $1,000 or $1,100 mark. Sony has already hinted it won't sell the PS6 at a "significant" loss, so I doubt the company will slash hundreds of dollars off the price to move more consoles. If these leaked prices are accurate, I don't see the next-gen PlayStation launching under $1,000, and we'd be lucky to get it for under $1,200. I hope I'm wrong, though, I really do.

But even though the PS6 is likely to be very expensive, Sony has been busy filing patents for some wild technology that might find its way into the PS6. Just last week, Sony filed a patent for its own take on frame generation, and before that, filed another patent that would let games use player behavior to train NPCs.

The company has also patented technology that would turn your controller into an NFC card reader, and use an AI agent to monitor your console for hardware flaws and deploy vibe-coded patches to fix problems before you even notice them.

But don't hold your breath for a release date. Following Sony's shock decision to kill video game discs on PlayStation consoles from January 2028, analysts predict a 2028 release at the earliest, potentially the end of 2028.