Prominent Tesla hacker, known as @greentheonly or ‘Green’ on X, has reported that the new Model Y Hardware 4 (HW4) infotainment system appears to be less capable than its predecessor, Hardware 3 (HW3).
The revelation has sparked discussions about the potential impact on user experience and Tesla’s motivation for the change.
Green divulged that the HW4 infotainment system has half as much Random Access Memory (RAM) and half as much storage space compared to the HW3 units, specifically, 8GB and 128GB, respectively. This reduction in specifications, Green points out, likely eliminates the possibility of supporting services like gaming service Steam on the HW4 unit, though Steam is not officially supported by Tesla anyway.
Despite speculation that the reduced specifications could be a result of HW4 being more efficient, Green clarified that the Central Processing Unit (CPU) remains the same. Responding to concerns about both the HW3 and HW4’s vulnerability to voltage glitching attacks, Green confirmed that the infotainment side, which uses the same Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) CPU, is indeed vulnerable.
When questioned about the impact of the lower specifications on the performance of the system, Green suggested that the HW4 Model Y’s responsiveness is primarily due to it being a newer model and thus not yet encumbered by ‘cruft’ or unnecessary data loaded into memory. To deal with such data, he recommends performing a periodic factory reset.
Green speculated that the decision to reduce RAM and storage was likely driven by cost considerations. When asked if any Model 3 units feature the HW4 system, he indicated that he has seen no evidence of this yet.
The infotainment system alterations have been found in Model Y HW4 units manufactured at both the Texas and Fremont factories, according to Green.
The news has prompted a mix of reactions from Tesla enthusiasts and industry watchers alike, with some expressing disappointment at the apparent downgrade and others remaining hopeful that Tesla’s engineers have optimized the system to perform efficiently despite the reduced specifications.
