You Can Keep the PS5 Upright Without Worrying About Internal Damage

Keeping your PS5 upright is completely fine, news outlet Wololo has clarified. A report from a few weeks ago suggested that placing the current gen console in a vertical position was prone to do internal harm by causing the liquid metal to leak down the sides of the APU, and eventually spread onto the motherboard. The outlet has now retracted its statement, claiming that while the problem can still occur, there is “no evidence” that it will happen to consoles fresh out of the box, devoid of tampering. This would mainly affect those who had their PS5s repaired recently, so you might need to be cautious in how you position it. Fresh PS5s are not in any danger when placed vertically.

Wololo stated that the initial report had to do with a misunderstanding on their part, where they “thought” that the liquid metal problem happened on an untampered, in-box PS5 unit. “What he [The Cod3r — hardware Youtuber who first brought the design flaw to attention] said (and meant) was PS5s that had not been opened (the actual console!) by other repair shops prior to him,” Wololo tweeted. If the issue indeed was severe, it would paint Sony in a bad picture, as the company continues to advertise the product in an upright position. Sony made it clear previously that you could orient a PS5 both vertically as well as horizontally, thanks to a plastic base that clips onto the console’s outer white shell.

That said, both TheCod3r and Wololo hold onto their claim that standing a PS5 vertically is indeed risky, eventually leading to an uneven spread of liquid metal intended to help cool the APU. However, there isn’t widespread evidence to back this claim. For what it’s worth, PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan announced during CES 2023 that the PS5 had sold over 30 million units worldwide. He also claimed that December — Christmas season — was the biggest sales month for the console yet and that players should now have a much “easier time” finding a unit from local retailers. It is still unclear if this applies to India, where PS5s are made available in batches that go out of stock in mere minutes.

Back in September, Sony quietly revamped the internals of newly revised PS5 models, which first hit the markets in Australia. The new units sported a CFI-1200 number and proved to be 200 grams lighter than the original CFI-1100 variant, as confirmed by tech YouTuber Austin Evans. The new PS5 also drew less power and saw changes to the heatsink and included an updated motherboard.