After many rumors, it appears that the PS5 Slim has finally arrived. Sony has just announced a new slim version of the PS5, and while it is not officially named the PS5 Slim, this is in fact what it is. Nevertheless, the new PS5 has more to offer than just a slimmer version.

In fact, this new version of the console is modular, so to speak. Once again, the disc drive, which is capable of playing 4K Blu-rays, appears to be removable. This is especially important for those who will be purchasing a digital version of the new console and want to change things later.

If you get tired of relying on the PlayStation Store for all your games, you can buy a disc drive and install it in its place. The cover plate on the bottom right of the console comes off, and underneath it is a place to plug in the disk drive. The disk drive itself costs $80/€119/£100 when bought separately.

The new PS5 appears to be significantly lighter than its predecessor, with a 30% reduction in volume. It is 18% lighter on digital consoles and 24% lighter on disk drive models. It also has a 1TB solid state drive, which is not large, but is a slight improvement over the 825GB SSD that the PS5 comes with.

No other internal specs appear to have changed. According to the official spec sheet, the new PS5's CPU and GPU are nearly identical, and the amount of RAM is unchanged, again with 16GB of GDDR6 memory. Needless to say, the console continues to support 120Hz 4K content, ray tracing, and VRR.

Also announced was a new horizontal stand for the PS5. This is a metal clip-like device, but a new vertical stand will also be available and will be compatible with all PS5 models. Unfortunately, this vertical stand is only available separately, so you'll have to pay $30/€30/£25 to keep the new PS5 safely upright. No doubt third parties are working on cheaper options.

That's not the only additional payment you will have to make. The disc version of the PS5 will remain at $500, but the digital version will increase in price. This means that instead of $399, you will pay $449. You will also notice that if you purchase the PS5's removable disc drive later, you will pay $30 more than if you purchase the disc drive model first.

These prices translate to €550 and €450 in Europe and £480 and £390 in the UK. These are unchanged from the current prices, which is probably for the best, as both regions have already experienced PS5 price increases in the last year.

The new PS5 will be available in the US this November and can be purchased from "select local retailers" and the official PlayStation store. Any retailers that already stock the PS5 will no doubt sell the new model as soon as it becomes available. No international release date has been given, only that the new PS5 will be available "worldwide in the next few months."

The original PS5 model has been discontinued and will be gone forever once the current inventory is sold out; let's hope the PS5 Slim does not experience the same extraordinary demand that the PS5 launch did,