Yeah I just can’t see them doing away with the disc drive at least not yet. I just wonder if that ever happens what their plan will be for the people that like having the case and the disc itself. Definitely would upset a lot of people. Yeah even the PS4 saves are getting harder to decrypt now. You can resign PS5 saves finally. But unfortunately it’s only Jailbroken PS5 to Jailbroken PS5. There are other ways. But nothing an average user can do. One thing I’ve learned tho being in the modding scene for 20+ years is where there’s a will there’s a way. Eventually it gets figured out. But it’s getting harder and harder. Doesn’t help the people that find the exploits, turn them into the PlayStation bounty program right away for the money.Until everyone in the world has fast reliable internet, I don't think Sony can get away with no disc drive. Now, they may sell them separately like they do with the PS5 Pro, but I think they will have to keep it as an option.
But as far as saves go, I imagine PS4 is the end of the it. I'm sure there will be cracked PS5s and PS6s that can be modded, but it won't be as accessible to the masses like a USB stick and Save Wizard/Discord bots.