At long last, after months of waiting, Sony looks like it's about to turn on the ability to expand your PlayStation 5's internal storage with the use of an M.2 SSD. The functionality was trailed in advance of the console's launch by Mark Cerny, but hasn't be actually available.

The change is coming in the first instance to users who've been selected to test beta elements on the console, something that's been available to sign up to for a little while, although selection isn't guaranteed. That means only a very small slice of people can do it right now.

However, a newly-added PlayStation support page lays out the process in its entirety, and it looks predictably enough like it'll take a bit more effort than just plugging a drive in. For one thing, you'll need to take the cover off your PS5 and have a screwdriver handy to fix your SSD into place.

It'll also need to meet some pretty careful requirements both on the performance side of things (at least 5,500 MB/s of speed) and the dimensions, in order to fit into its designated slot. Sony says that you will want to add a heatsink on top as well, for an even tighter squeeze but better heat dissipation.

In practice that means it can't exceed the following:

Total size including cooling structure:

  • In millimeters: smaller than 110mm (L) x 25mm (W) x 11.25mm (H).
  • In inches: smaller than 4.33in (L) x 0.984 in (W) x 0.442in (H).

There are far more detailed instructions and details to be found on Sony's How To page, and we'll be putting the instructions to the test with a guide of our own as soon as we're able, so this looks like great news for anyone struggling to keep their storage under control.