PlayStation 5 owners who want to maximize the lifespan of their consoles will want to place them horizontally rather than vertically, according to 68Logic, a hardware repair specialist who took to Twitter this week to warn PS5 owners of what is alleged to be a major design flaw hidden in Sony’s latest console, whereby the liquid metal thermal interface material used to help cool the SoC with custom AMD Zen 2 CPU may leak and damage surrounding components.
“Do not put your Ps5 upright, here is the result the liquid moves and the freezes are there,” 68Logic said before showing a photo that illustrates what PS5 owners might find if they continue using their consoles in a vertical, upright position.
Do not put your Ps5 upright, here is the result the liquid moves and the freezes are there pic.twitter.com/A4Do3TkcXk
— Consoles System (@68Logic) January 4, 2023
“I am only warning, all the PS5 that I open, very often the liquid is moved and can sometimes damage the surface of the CPU,” added 68Logic in a follow-up tweet. “In some cases this affects operation. I’m not the only Technician to notice this.”
Collective answer: I am only warning, all the PS5 that I open, very often the liquid is moved and can sometimes damage the surface of the CPU. In some cases this affects operation. I'm not the only Technician to notice this. pic.twitter.com/XWJrtkwg0L
— Consoles System (@68Logic) January 5, 2023
Some of these other experts appear to include Ben Montana, owner of repair shop ILoveMyConsole, who shared similar photos on Facebook in August 2022 highlighting how liquid metal can seemingly leak and cause damage to the PS5.
TheCod3r, a YouTuber who’s known for his educational repair features, also shared a video in September 2022 that provides an intimate view of the issue, seemingly confirming that there is a design defect that Sony’s engineers overlooked.
Sony hasn’t acknowledged the issue yet, but it did confirm during its CES 2023 press release this week that its PS5 consoles continue to sell very well, having exceeded 30 million units sold as of December.
PlayStation is reportedly planning a new PS5 that features a detachable disc drive, although it’s unclear whether it might include any revisions to its cooling solution.