Sony’s advertisements depict the PS5 almost exclusively in its vertical position. Whether this is to stand out from its primary competitor — Xbox — or to evince a futuristic image is unknown. But based on these ads, users would be safe to assume that storing the PS5 upright will not cause damage.
However, in late 2022, a console repair technician known as TheCod3r released a YouTube video claiming that vertically storing the PS5 can cause damage over time. The story was subsequently picked up in 2023 by various tech and gaming news outlets, causing a general panic in the community. The problem, according to TheCod3r, is that storing the PS5 in a vertical position may cause the liquid metal cooling material to drip down the sides of the APU and onto the motherboard. This can result in decreased cooling and damage to other components. TheCod3r and other repair technicians claim that this is a design flaw by Sony.
Skeptics, on the other hand, believe that liquid metal leakage is due to user mishandling. Indeed, Yasuhiro Ootori from Sony’s design department states that it doesn’t matter whether players store their consoles vertically or horizontally and that the device’s orientation does not affect its cooling capacity. He goes on to say that he personally prefers to store his PS5 vertically.
