About time: Next PS4 update will finally allow external hard drive support

It turns out, if you harp on a company long enough, they will eventually bow to your demands. Sony have revealed a raft of changes and additions bound for the PlayStation 4 in the new v4.50 system software update, chief among them the long-awaited ability to plug in a USB hard drive and have it work.

Despite the fact that the PlayStation 3 had no problem reading external drives, the PlayStation 4 has never been able to do it. This is a point that has stuck in the craw of many a PlayStation fan since the system’s release in 2013. Sony’s response to the problem has, historically, been that it’s easy to replace the internal hard drive with a higher capacity unit (it is, and doing so will not void your warranty) but, with USB 3.0 ports across the console, the advice always rang a little hollow. The 4.50 update adds external support for USB 3.0 drives up to 8TB in size. It took you a while, Sony, but we’re glad you got there.

Other features included in the 4.50 update include custom wallpapers, an overhaul of the Quick Menu (which is the menu that appears when you hold the PS button on your controller down for a few seconds), a simplifying of your Notifications menu, direct posts to the PlayStation Network Activity Feeds and 3D Bluray support for PlayStation VR.

You can read the full list of inbound updates at the PlayStation Blog.

The v4.50 system update is currently only available to beta participants. As of press time, no window for release has been set.

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David Smith

David Smith is the former games and technology editor at The AU Review. He has previously written for PC World Australia. You can find him on Twitter at @RhunWords.