The PS5 Pro has one thing in common with the all-new Mac Mini: its (relative) repairability

What have the PS5 Pro And the Mac Mini in common? Beyond the fact that these are two extremely powerful computers, the answer is: an easily replaceable CMOS battery. We explain to you why this is important.

The CMOS battery is a beast of a button cell found in all computers and all modern game consoles. Its function is simple: keep a very small part of your computer turned on so that the motherboard can, even once the machine is turned off, keep important information in memory such as the time or the PC startup instructions.

Like all button batteries, it has a limited lifespan and, once its power is exhausted, the machine around it may begin to show signs of instability (including difficulty starting or accessing the Internet.) It is therefore essential to be able to change this battery if it runs dry. It would be absurd to throw away an €800 PS5 Pro for a €5 battery.

One touch of a screwdriver and it's done

Good news, Sony is making efforts in this area with its PS5 Pro. As iFixit explains in its console teardown video, the CMOS battery can be changed with a simple Phillips screwdriver. A notable improvement compared to the “classic” PS5 which buried its CMOS battery under the motherboard, making any replacement operation unnecessarily complex. The fashion seems to be for accessible batteries, since Apple has done the same with its new Mac Mini by hiding the component under nothing more than two small screws.

On the new, and expensive, Sony console, once the decorative plates of the console have been removed (by hand, since there is no need for a tool to remove them), a simple stroke of a screwdriver will be enough to replace the battery. The same goes for the fan, which is simply held in place by 4 torx screws (star-shaped). More good news for repairability, since a clogged fan can seriously damage a console.

Unfortunately, this is the only good news that this PS5 Pro brings since the rest of the teardown is a copy and paste of that of the classic PS5. This generation of Sony console is not particularly difficult to disassemble and repair (especially thanks to point-based keying so as not to make a mistake as to the size of the screws to be reinstalled), but Sony refuses to publish guides for dismantling or selling official spare parts on its site.

Practices hostile to repair

If the most handymen among you will not let this lack of basic politeness put you off, we can still imagine that without a guide to hold their hand, some will not dare to delve into the bowels of their consoles for fear of damaging it. Especially since Sony stuck a sticker on it.warranty void if seal removed” to discourage those who would like to embark on the adventure of repair. Stickers which, remember, are not worth much in the face of legal compliance provisions set out in French law.

We can still be pleased that Sony had the good taste to change the location of the CMOS battery. For a device to be easily repairable, all “consumable” components must be easily accessible. Who knows, maybe after changing a button battery, some people will feel like a digital tinkerer.