A leaked image from a factory in China shows a PS5 with what appears to be a removable faceplate, suggesting that if you want to customize Sony's next-generation console, you will be able to change the default one.

The photo comes courtesy of Wario64 on Twitter, and the plate appears to be an attachment rather than a plate glued to the PS5 itself. This appears to be consistent with Sony's earlier statement that the PS5 is highly customizable.

The source of these photos cannot be verified, so they will have to be viewed with a skeptical eye. However, the faceplate in the photos appears to be fairly close to the PS5 design.

So if you don't like the standard PS5's two-tone black and white, this leak suggests that you can opt for a different color faceplate. Whether that will be supplied by Sony or left to third-party "aftermarket" peripheral manufacturers remains to be seen. However, it is possible that a custom PS5 model will be made in conjunction with a blockbuster game like "God of War 5".

However, interchangeable faceplates do not mean that the entire PS5 design can be changed. The design has been controversial in Tom's Guide, with some praising Sony for adopting a look that is quite different from other game consoles, while others have derided it as overdesigned and oversized, like a router. [But there is logic to this design, as Microsoft employs a special cooling system to cool its 12 teraflop machine. Sony's 10.28 teraflop console also appears to be built around clever cooling, only a bit more ostentatious.

We'll have to wait until "Holiday 2020," or around November, to see what the console looks like in the flesh. Even if it looks somewhat dumb, the performance and capabilities they promise are quite attractive.