Sony will show off a new slimmer version of its current PlayStation 4 console next month, The Wall Street Journal reports, a smaller and less expensive machine that would go on sale alongside the upgraded 4K-capable PS4 that the company described earlier this year. The news comes soon after pictures appeared in an online auction that appeared to show a thinner and smaller PlayStation 4, suggesting that we may already have had our first glimpse at the device in question.

The slim PS4 could become the new standard model

The company is set to detail both this slimmer PS4 and the upgraded 4K version of the console at an event in New York on September 7th, just a month after competitor Microsoft released its own slimmed-down version of its Xbox One. The WSJ says that Sony cut production of the current PlayStation 4 console ahead of that date, suggesting that the slimmer model would replace the launch PS4 as the standard version of the console. Sony has introduced smaller models of all of its home consoles so far, but has never put out a revised version of a PlayStation console that promised better graphics, relying instead on fine-tuning the same components that were shipped at launch.

Sony confirmed that it was working on a more powerful PS4 in June, with the upgraded console — codenamed "Neo" — boasting a faster processor, support for 4K resolutions, and improved graphics. Despite these improvements, Sony says all future PS4 games will be playable on all console variations, with Sony CEO Andrew House saying the upgraded PS4 was "intended to sit alongside and complement the standard PS4." House didn't mention the existence of a third version of the console at the time, stating only that Sony would be selling "both" original console and upgraded version "through the life cycle."

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