PlayStation will be rolling out the September update for the PS5 firmware, giving plenty of new social features as well as a way to experience 3D audio without special headphones and more storage expansion options.
Experiencing 3D Audio
One of the biggest takeaways of the PS5 September update is the 3D audio function, letting more players experience one of the console’s most underrated features.
Previously, fans needed special headphones to experience what’s supposed to be more immersive sound. However, the new update will allow players to do so even with 3D speakers.
“The PS5 September Update adds support for players to experience 3D audio through their built-in TV speakers. Once enabled in the Sound menu, this feature transforms standard two-channel TV speaker audio into three-dimensional sound, heightening the sense of gameplay immersion. Players can measure the acoustics of their room using the microphone on their DualSense wireless controller to apply the 3D audio setting that’s optimized for their room”, the blog post says.
3D audio was a particularly big selling point for the game Returnal, with many gamers praising the immersive feature giving them deeper immersion.
M.2 SSD Expansion
While you could first expand storage on the PS5 via external USB drives as early as in April, the new update will also allow you to do so via M.2 SSD units. These will require you to physically install the SSDs yourself, and to that end PlayStation has provided a handy video for installing your SSD.
You’ll want to make sure you install the update before installing your SSD though, just to make sure there’s no problems with the installation. You’ll also need to check the minimum specs for compatibility with your PS5.
This is arguably the biggest feature in the update, considering the PS5 has long since shipped with room to expand the device’s SSD. Considernig how many people complain about the disk space on the PS5, being able to expand it should be a godsend.
Other Features
Aside from that, there’s a lot of other changes coming to the PS5 as well. One notable change is in the Game Library, wherein if you have the PS4 and PS5 versions of a game installed, they’ll now be displayed separately.
There’s also changes to the PS App, letting you now watch people streaming their game through the app. This feature, however, will only be available once the PS App updates on the 23rd of September.