The PlayStation 3 Slim model was released in 2009. Sony officially launched it on September 1, 2009, in North America and Europe, followed by Japan, Australia, and New Zealand on September 3.
The Slim was a major redesign of the original PlayStation 3 rather than a new generation of console. Its case was about 33% smaller and 36% lighter, while power consumption also fell substantially. Sony used a more efficient 45 nm version of the Cell processor and redesigned the cooling system, making the console quieter and less expensive to manufacture.
The model originally shipped with a 120 GB hard drive, and later versions offered 160 GB, 250 GB, and 320 GB capacities. A common mix-up is confusing the Slim with the PS3 Super Slim, which arrived in 2012. Another important difference is that the Slim removed hardware-based backward compatibility with PlayStation 2 games.
The Slim helped revive PS3 sales by offering the system at a lower price and in a smaller, more practical form.