Despite Sony launching the PlayStation 4 around 2.5 years ago, Eurogamer reports that the Japanese company is already working on a facelifted version of their console to provide 4K resolution support. Their current model can’t pull it off (and neither can the Xbox One).

Both Eurogamer and Kotaku reports that Sony is already working on new hardware, which might be a customized APU (Accelerated Processing Unit), putting together AMD’s CPU and GPU technology into a single processor. Ultra HD resolution (4K‘s other name), HDR and a higher color gamut support would be possible by upgrading the hardware. The new processor would also have a smaller size. PS4 and Xbox One has 28nm microprocessors – the PS4K would come with either a 14 or a 16nm, 3D FinFET technology.

PS4K would come with HDMI 2.0 and HDCP 2.2 support as well. The price is a question, though. This solely depends on the APU technology; the 16nm model would cost less than a 14nm one.

According to DigitalFoundry, three possibilities could happen. The first one is evolving PlayStation. Depending on when the PS4K launches, Sony would have access to different CPU/GPU technology. Halving the microprocessor size would result in double performance although it’s questionable if Sony can pull this off. We have still yet to see how AMD’s Polaris GPU and Zen CPU architecture can be put together. While Zen is a high-performance, desktop architecture, consoles tend to use different methods. Not to mention Polaris, another modern, high-quality GPU technology. Sony might have to improve their memory to have faster RAM (or even more memory as well) – however, in that case, Sony would upgrade almost everything. It would be like upgrading your PC… but Sony could keep the old PS4 out as say, a PS4 Slim while having the PS4K as a pricier, stronger model.

Option #2 would be evolving the PS4. If the PS4K becomes the standard, the PS4 would be left behind and abandoned by devs… as if we jumped a console generation. PS4K‘s architecture shouldn’t be entirely different from the PS4’s. Replacing the GPU itself wouldn’t cause much compatibility issues, so it’d be like replacing your GTX 780 in your desktop PC to a GTX 980 – you’d still be able to play previous games with higher performance. However, native 4K support would be out of the question, and hardcore fans would probably dislike this… although the console would be cheaper.

Option #3 is making the PS4K a redesigned, slim model – it would still support the older games, and while the games would still run on 1080p, there would be HDR support and the chance to run them on 4K displays. The current APU would stay with a smaller microprocessor with some overclocking, also possibly replacing the graphical memory to GDDR5, pushing performance a bit higher.

Whatever happens, it feels like upgrading a PC. Consoles will likely start to get faster lifecycles to keep the pace up against desktop PCs…