Net als Microsoft past Sony aan de lopende band hun hardware aan voor verschillende redenen. Zo kan het dat er nieuwe technieken worden toegepast, of veranderingen in de hardware om piraterij te stoppen. Zo is er nu een nieuw type PlayStation 3 Slim verschenen die de nodige verbeteringen heeft gekregen, deze zijn eigenlijk hoofdzakelijk hardware matig zoals de cooling en de LED verlichting. Maar goed hier zijn de screens en de informatie.

The Wifi light was removed but not the HDD light, the PS logo above the drive is now silk screened rather then an emblem while the silk screened SONY logo was removed in favor of an indented logo. Also the power and eject buttons have changed color to a darker gray and the silver/clear overlay around them is removed.

Lastly the entire casing is now a matte finish besides the power button/drive face area, no more glossy front and side plastic [...]. The unit is also lighter then the 2001-A (not sure why) also I believe they may have finally engineered out the annoying plastic pop from case expansion/contraction with this model.

[...] also worth noting that in the 4 hours I have had the 3001-A on there has been no plastic pop from the case and the unit actually feels cooler to the touch then the 2001A right next to it.

[...] they removed the LED backlighting from the actual buttons. The little green and blue LEDs are still there above the buttons [...]

[...] it sounds like the 3001-A is quieter then the 2001-A I have right next to it as the 2001 is making most of the fan noise in the room (keeping in mind both are doing the exact same thing).