The team at iFixit tore the PS4 down to its base parts, and the results are surprisingly nice.
If you were unfortunate enough to encounter the dreaded "Yellow Light of
Death" on an older PlayStation 3, you may also know disassembling and
repairing Sony's last console wasn't an easy affair. The super-slim
PlayStation 3 model was somewhat easier to tinker with, but according to a new teardown at iFixit, the PlayStation 4 is surprisingly easy to take apart should things go haywire. And as we already knew, the swappable HDD is a breeze to pull out.
Using a Torx security screwdriver, only a few screws stand between you and totally violating your PlayStation 4 warranty. The console doesn't contain any annoying adhesive, so taking the thing apart is pretty straightforward. That being said, gaining access to something like the fan--which could, over the lifetime of the PlayStation 4, need cleaning--will take quite a bit of disassembly. And since there's no power brick, a clean fan means a cool internal power supply.
Overall, iFixit gave the PlayStation 4 a repairability score of 8 (out of a possible 10). Be sure to check out the whole teardown for
a deeper look at all the internals of Sony's new console. And remember:
those warranty stickers are there for a reason, so think about it
before you crack open your PlayStation 4.
Sign up here with your email