PS5: New PlayStation's base can be removed to allow it to lie down, teardown reveals

The first teardown of the PlayStation 5 has confirmed that the console can be safely laid on its side.

Both the new Sony console and its rival the Xbox Series X have attracted considerable comment on the fact they are much larger than their predecessors. Many have noted that the two next-generation consoles are so large that finding an appropriate space in many living rooms could be difficult.

But a new video – the first to show the inside of the PS5 – confirms that it can be at least rotated so that it lies on its side, and that it will safely work in that orientation.

The base that keeps it upright in its normal vertical position can be removed and safely stowed away, the video confirmed.

To rotate the console, users must however undertake something of a complicated process. The stand can be unscrewed and removed; that screw can then be placed inside of the stand, which in turn can then be clipped onto the side of the console.

That process was mocked by Xbox in a tweet in which it pointed out that all a user had to do to rotate the new Series X was simply pick it up and turn it on its side.

“How to switch the Xbox Series X from vertical to horizontal,” a tweet from the Xbox UK account read, next to a picture of the console in its two orientations. That post appears to have since been deleted.

In addition to the orientation and the stand that enables it, the teardown also revealed what is inside the new console – which is largely cooling systems that ensure it is able to run quietly and without getting overly hot.