Sony's PS5 game console will be available as early as this month. However, there is one interesting piece of information we have learned about the new system. That is the fact that there is no optical audio jack.

This is according to a Verge report on Astro's A20 Gen 2 headset, which notes that owners of older Astro gaming headsets will need to upgrade their audio equipment or get an HDMI-to-optical audio splitter. (Astro makes one that can connect to the PS5 without additional firmware.)

It really wouldn't surprise me if the PS5 ships without an optical port. After all, as noted in the PlayStation 4 review, the PS4 Slim does away with the optical port that was on the original console.

And the PS4 Slim was not the only one to do so. In the past few years, most electronics manufacturers have adopted HDMI cables as their main connector. Optical output continued to be common in set-top boxes, TVs, consoles, and various other devices, but slowly disappeared.

Optical audio cables, or "Toslink" cables, first appeared in the 1980s. These cables were primarily used as connectors for everything from satellite boxes to DVD players and receivers. Today, in addition to the above items, optical connections are still ubiquitous with broadband lines (of course, fiber-optic online options exist), and there are uses for cables beyond Internet access.

However, we are seeing optical connectors disappear from products. Optical audio connections are much more limited than HDMI connections. Even older Blu-ray movies from earlier in the media format's lifecycle, such as Dolby TrueHD and DTS Master Audio, cannot transmit high-resolution audio. If you are looking for lossless audio, you won't find it here. Plus, given that HDMI connectors are typically a one-size-fits-all solution, why would users be forced to connect two different cables instead?

Despite these drawbacks, some audiophiles prefer optical audio and will definitely feel Sony's lack of support for the PS5 as a loss. The PS5 is also not the only game console to be released this year that will discontinue optical audio.

At the very least, it seems that the new system will force fans of the old ways to start looking forward if they intend to use the PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X on their latest devices.