PS5 Slim disc drive easily swaps between consoles, video shows
Pairing requires "very basic" online handshake.
The detachable disc drive for the new PS5 "slim" models will easily pair to different consoles and won't be locked to a particular console once it's been paired, according to a new video showing the hardware in action.
The disc drive was shown in action by YouTuber Mystic in a PS5 slim unboxing video, in which he walked through the process of pairing the drive with a console.
The disc drive will easily pair to a console, even if it's already registered to a different one and the console has its own disc drive registered.
"The register and unregister process, for all intents and purposes, is a very basic online handshake," Mystic shared, "so [the console] just lets you register the [new] drive immediately, overriding the previous console." Handy, we suppose, if you ever sell your disc drive peripheral or pick another up second hand.
The required internet connection is only needed to update the drive and register it, the video suggests, and after being registered can then be used offline "without a PSN login".
"Sony is likely in a position where they're being proactively compliant with DMCA lobbying," Mystic said, "since it's typically a requirement for an online check-in when Blu-ray drives are changed". As previously noted, this adds an extra online step to playing disc-based games, and begs the question of what happens when Sony's authentication server is turned off or is offline for some other reason.
The PS5 "slim" has only been released in the US at time of writing, but the model is expected to be included as part of Sony's "full supply" of console stock which the company expects to help drive Christmas sales.
