Rumor mill: Sony is collaborating with AMD once again to develop the next generation of PlayStation consoles, and progress appears to be going smoothly. According to a new leak, the chip design for the future PlayStation 6 is essentially complete and nearly ready to enter the manufacturing phase. Sony is currently trying to convince gamers that the modest improvements of the PlayStation 5 Pro can justify its hefty $700 price tag, and the console is reportedly performing well in the market. Meanwhile, the Japanese giant is also hard at work on the next generation of PlayStation hardware, with AMD confirmed as the key partner for designing the system-on-a-chip at the heart of the upcoming gaming machine.Well-known tipster KeplerL2 previously reported that Sony and AMD were working on two different PS6 SoCs. Now, the same leaker has provided additional details about the progress of the SoC, revealing that the chip design is complete and has already entered the pre-silicon validation phase. According to KeplerL2, the "A0 tapeout" is scheduled for late this year, which suggests that the new console could arrive on the market earlier than anticipated.Sony is known for following a reliable hardware development cycle, with the A0 tapeout phase typically completed about two years before the final product is released to retail channels. KeplerL2 confirmed that Sony is adhering to the same pattern, meaning we could see a new generation of PlayStation hardware as early as 2027.The intricate design of the PlayStation 5's AMD Oberon SoC as pictured by Fritzchens FritzThe PlayStation 6 is expected to be based on AMD's Zen 6 architecture, the company's upcoming CPU technology manufactured using TSMC's 3nm process node. Zen 6 is projected to launch in 2026 in PC products. KeplerL2 also noted that the new CPU microarchitecture is design complete, with certain components set to be fabricated on TSMC's 2nm node. // Related StoriesThe GPU of the PlayStation 6 is described as an early fork of AMD's "gfx13," part of the "UDNA" architecture that the company is reportedly developing to create a true next-generation flagship accelerator, replacing the RDNA-based designs.A few months ago, anonymous sources revealed that Intel had attempted to establish a profitable partnership with Sony to produce PlayStation x86 SoCs, but AMD successfully outbid the competition once again.Another intriguing rumor about the PlayStation 6 has emerged from Chinese forums, such as Chiphell, where users are discussing the potential adoption of 3D V-Cache technology. The new console may leverage AMD's "Halo" tech to stack cache RAM chiplets on both the CPU and GPU. Although the specific packaging method has not yet been disclosed, stacked cache technology could deliver a significant performance boost to the new PlayStation. Notably, even Microsoft is reportedly exploring this solution for its next-gen console.