I get the feeling we're arguing two different things then.
Yeah okay, you CAN upclock through a patch provided you've already tested the chips and the console to be reliable at that clock.
The question still remains though, why not just set it at that clock in the first place?
To answer the other gaffer, with that form factor and power draw of the console, I don't think noise is much of a priority for Sony imo.
Longevity of a product, a chips life becomes shorter for every degree hotter it runs, If there is simply no need for an upclock (and at this point there really isn't) then they don't need to upclock. In the future when cross gen games are a rarity and not the norm, then the extra power will be more useful for third party Devs, If Sony are targeting a 7 year cycle and we have 3 years of cross gen games, the longevity of the chip can be extended by the lower clocks in the first few years.
The "standard" parts that build the basis of the PS4's APU are designed to be run at up to 2Ghz and 1Ghz and it would be expected for yields to be acceptable for chips capable of up to these speeds and simply increase as the clocks are lowered.
The higher clock speeds would have to be tested at the production stage though of course, It would not be possible to upclock after shipping, unless the upclock was already considered.
Asking a chip to run at 1.6ghz for 3 years then 1.8 Ghz for 4 years is asking a lot less than asking a chip to run at 1.8Ghz for 7 years.