Sony is expected to completely forgo liquid metal in the PS6 and instead rely on a closed, water-based evaporation system.
A newly surfaced patent from Sony describes A cooling solution based on multiple heat pipes with tapered and widened sections. A liquid – water, to be precise – circulates within these sealed tubes, dissipating heat through phase transitions from liquid to gaseous. The risky liquid metal used in the PlayStation 5 is thus a thing of the past.
Farewell to liquid risk
Liquid metal has extremely high thermal conductivity, but brings with it massive physical disadvantages in mass production. If a console remains exclusively vertical for years, the metal can sag unevenly downwards due to gravity. This results in incomplete contact with the APU die and localized overheating.
Sony already had to use additional barriers and milled grooves in the heat sink for the PS5 Slim and PS5 Pro. improveto prevent leakage or displacement of the electrically conductive gallium alloy. With the PS6, the development department could now finally pull the plug on this experiment. This omission completely eliminates the risk of short circuits caused by leaking material in the event of casing damage.
The physics behind evaporation
The new patent solves the orientation problem mechanically through the geometry of the heat pipes. Several rod-shaped cooling pipes have specially shaped chambers that act as either a physical barrier or a collection basin, depending on the console's position.
When the console is vertical, water collects in the expanded sections at the bottom of the pipes. These sections act as a reservoir, controlling the fill level and ensuring that the liquid evaporates precisely at the heat hotspots instead of flowing uncontrollably. The system utilizes both capillary action and gravity. It functions identically in any position.
PC technology for the living room
The vapor chamber principle has been standard in high-end PCs and graphics cards for years. Sony is now scaling this technology for the mass market using modified heat pipes. Compared to the classic combination of a copper block, standard heat pipes, and thermal paste, this phase-change cooling offers a significantly higher heat capacity per second.
The PS6 could run more thermally stable because water in a closed loop doesn't age or oxidize like conventional pastes or liquid metals. This increases the console's lifespan.
Ideally, Sony would only offer the motherboard and the rest as a custom kit where you can assemble your PlayStation however you want 🤷♂️
The best-selling game consoles of all time (worldwide, as of mid-2026) are:
Rank Console Units Sold
1 PlayStation 2 over 160 million.
2 Nintendo Switch approx. 155 million.
3 Nintendo DS approx. 154 million
4 Game Boy + Game Boy Color approx. 119 million.
5 PlayStation 4 approx. 117 million
6 PlayStation (PS1) approx. 102 million.
7 Wii approx. 102 million
8 PlayStation 5 approx. 92 million
9 PlayStation 3 approx. 87 million
10 Xbox 360 approx. 84 million
Nobody wants to know, no drive, no CDs as games = becomes uninteresting for players who want retail.
It'll be funny when the other platforms also stop having drives, and that's exactly what's going to happen.
I'm curious to see what people like you will say then xD
Robert G. Barth What does that have to do with salary? I have two PS5 Pros, a gaming PC, I can afford that stuff. You just don't get ripped off. Yeah, you're a real consumer idiot. Just an NPC. Because of ignorant "I CAN AFFORD IT" zombies like you, companies in the gaming industry have become so outrageous. You can spend the difference on other hobbies; intelligent people don't just have one pastime. 🤷♂️
István Kovács Oh, a "kid" with an opinion 🙂 Report it to Facebook... such statements don't demonstrate much intelligence... Keep living under a rock and spending your time as a low-wage earner... I'll also pay €2000 for a PS6 if I have to and €500 for a decent GTA6 if I have to... it's not my fault you're too stupid for economics 😀
In German, a vaporchamber?
Anyway, it doesn't matter, a new PC is already built, a PS5 or higher is no longer needed…
This doesn't exactly lower the presumed price and is rather counterproductive.
Mike or Markus, whatever, you insider must know 👍
And yet it will still overheat because they're using undersized fans and don't even realize that more power requires more cooling. 🤷🏻♂️✌🏻 But yeah, they'll definitely improve on that.
XsX has something similar 😅
Pierre Nazzal, okay, you expert, you know best.
Redoine Hamarlain, no, practice shows it 🤷🏻♂️ that the PS5, maybe even the Pro version, has overheating problems. It's strange that you don't hear it on the Xbox ✌🏻
Those are the facts, nothing more 🤷🏻♂️✌🏻
I've never heard of a PS5 or the Pro having overheating problems. I have both, and they still work perfectly even at 40 degrees Celsius outside temperature.
The PS5 doesn't overheat, so how can anyone assume the PS6 does?
So, the same system that Apple already uses.
Thorsten B-nagel is just a minority 🤷
We'll see who ends up in the minority.
Thorsten B-nagel, the disc lover. What's under 1 million people? With 120 million active PlayStation players? Of which over 50 million have an active PS Plus subscription?
The PS6 is selling well without any problems. Perhaps less than the PS5 (95 million units), but not by much.
Furthermore, we don't yet know any features of the PS6. And depending on the features, even those who say it's stupid because it's disc-free will buy it.
GTA 6 alone had around 40 million pre-orders on the first day. And that's without a disc. Then there are those who say no, it doesn't have a disc; many of them buy the code in the box later on sale.
Just look at the petition. It was signed by roughly 0,12% of active PlayStation users, and we're currently in the summer lull; the number of PlayStation users would be significantly higher towards the end of the year. Let's ignore the fact that the petition was also signed by many people who don't even own a PlayStation. Then we're talking about even less than 0.12% of PlayStation users.