YouTuber Tears Down A Rare PlayStation 4 Pro DevKit

Console wars are going to rage on till the end of times and there is no stopping that. But, one console that has an edge in these arguments is the best-selling current-gen console, the PlayStation 4. From amazing games to brilliant performances over 8 years, there is no doubt the Sony console won the current-gen console battle.

One thing that helped it maintain this dominance was the mid-gen update in the form of PlayStation 4 Pro. The 2016 console was a necessary addition to PlayStation 4’s portfolio as it came with essential upgrades like 4K gaming. Now, a YouTuber got his hands on a rare DevKit of PlayStation 4 Pro and gives us an interesting breakdown of the console.

Major Takeaways

• A YouTuber gave us an in-depth look at the PlayStation 4 Pro DevKit
• The DevKit was heavier than the actual console and had a 344 Watt power compared to the 310 of the consumer version.
• Some of its designs were also similar to the PlayStation 5, signaling some influences.

Popular YouTuber Gamers Nexus is responsible for this brilliant video regarding PlayStation 4 Pro. He used an old 16GB DevKit for this and tore it down to give us a look at what’s inside. The results are certainly interesting and you can view the video yourself too as it’s just below.

First up, he gives us some information about this DevKit he obtained. It is a fairly new DevKit with only 2-4 days of use according to him and was first turned on in February 2017. This was after the release of PlayStation 4 Pro in 2016 so it seems like another curious PS fan got their hands on it before.

Afterward, the host gives us an external walkaround of the console. It is much heavier and bigger than the actual PlayStation 4 Pro as you can see in the video. The DevKit also has much more cooling capacity than the consumer version with several cooling vents.

PlayStation 4 Pro’s DevKit has an intriguing front end which is different when compared to the actual product. It is a single aluminum plate in the middle, with cooling vents at the top and bottom. A PS logo is right at the center of this aluminum plate, with USB ports right beside it. 

Some buttons are there with obvious labels like, “On Standby“, “Reset“, and “Eject“. However, the most interesting part is the seven LED lights on the right of the PlayStation logo. According to the host, they flicker red and green but he doesn’t know what they do, most probably taking in binary codes.

When the YouTuber starts up the PlayStation 4 Pro DevKit, the results are disappointing. The system wasn’t used a lot but it no longer functioned as a DevKit as the clock had expired. It can’t launch any games, and can’t update, so the decision to tear it down from the channel is a good one.

As the breakdown starts, we find out it uses the same HGST hard drive as the consumer version. Then the first panel is taken off and the insides present a neat picture. One thing to note is that the fans are not as close to the console as they could be, which might be a design decision. 

Moving on from this, the host then takes out the optical disk and the power supply, which provides enticing info. The Power supply had two fans and several labels for the voltages with 3 having Ground markings and 5 with 12 Volts. PlayStation 4 Pro’s DevKit has a DC output of over 344 Watts according to the labels on the power supply. 

That number is more than the 310 Watts the consumer version can do, which is interesting. After this, the YouTuber reaches the big fan beneath the power supply and the optical disk. Like the ones used in the PlayStation 5, it’s a Nidec fan which is 70mm across. 

Such a number is indeed huge and it uses the FIN Stack at the back to blow air out. The real tear-down begins after this as the YouTuber takes out the fan, the front face plate, and the whole internal plastic Chassis. When we reach the metal plate beyond the chassis, the YouTuber notices a similarity to the PS5.

According to him, the next-gen console has a metal chassis just like this PlayStation 4 Pro DevKit. It has a stamped upward motion just like the PS5 and the screws come out similarly too. Hence, this design could have been the inspiration for the PlayStation 5.  

Overall, the cooler design did appease the channel host. However, he still thinks that the memory interface had one of the worst designs ever. Whatever your opinion on this is, one can agree this teardown was very engaging.