The more powerful one has been around for some time PS5 Pro model through the rumor mill. Even if Sony has not yet wanted to officially announce the new version of the console and confirmed release information is pending, it is certain that a Pro model will indeed follow based on various indications.
Update (April 27, 2024): We have added some information about the PS5 Pro's Ultra Boost mode to the article.
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We have summarized the most important reports and rumors for you – enriched with a few speculations and thoughts on our part.
Table of contents:
PS5 Pro release – When will the console appear?
When it comes to the launch time window for the PS5 Pro, we have to point out that we first have to rely on the unconfirmed information from various insiders and leakers. These indicate that Sony could be targeting a market launch for the PS5 Pro at the end of the year, almost a year after the release of the slim version of the PS5.
For example, insider Tom Henderson, who is considered to be well-connected, has spoken several times in recent months about the release of the PS5 Pro End of 2024 he follows. Giant Bomb's Jeff Grubb, on the other hand, was a little more optimistic and gave September 2024 as a possible time window.
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No matter which of the two is ultimately right: Compared to the PS4 Pro, which was released about three years after the standard model of the PS4, Sony would take a year more time with the PS5 Pro.
Serkan Toto, CEO of the Tokyo-based gaming consultancy Kantan Games, also recently spoke of a broad consensus that points to a launch in the second half of 2024.
It should be noted that two factors could influence the launch window of the PS5 Pro. On the one hand, the semiconductor industry for chips continues to struggle with isolated bottlenecks that could delay the release of new systems such as the PS5 Pro.
In addition, according to analysts, Nintendo is planning the successor to the Switch in the second half of 2024 to publish. Sony's aim here is certainly to avoid a direct clash with Nintendo's new console.
We would therefore not rule out a PS5 Pro launch in early 2025.
Hardware – What does the new console have to offer technically?
While the official announcement of the PS5 Pro and thus the final hardware specifications are still a long time coming, we received one in March 2024 detailed leak with technical data for the new Sony console. Like well-connected industry insider Tom Henderson confirmedthe specs come from a Sony developer presentation and are indeed real.
But what should the mid-gen upgrade of the PS5 achieve technically? As expected, the PS5 Pro is significantly more powerful than the standard model of the console. This doesn't just apply to the impressive 33.5 teraflops with which the GPU scores on paper. Furthermore, rendering performance increases by 45 percent, while the PS5 Pro offers two to four times the performance in ray tracing, depending on the scenario.
The performance increases for the CPU and system memory are somewhat more manageable. According to Henderson, the PS5 Pro's system memory reaches 576 GB/s (18 GT/s). Compared to the standard model of the PS5 (448 GB/s), this corresponds to an increase of 28 percent. Henderson, on the other hand, puts the performance of the PS5 Pro CPU at 3.85 GHz – an increase of ten percent
Further data, which appear to have been confirmed in the developer presentation, are a custom machine learning architecture and AI accelerator that supports 300 TOPS of 8-bit calculations / 67 TFLOPS of 16-bit floating point calculations. In order to relieve developers and save valuable resources, Sony also relies on its own DLSS solution.
This is called Playstation Spectral Super Resolution or PSSR for short. Just like its counterparts from Nvidia or AMD, PSSR enables developers to scale lower-resolution games to a higher resolution using artificial intelligence in a resource-saving manner. On the PS5 Pro, the focus should be on scaling from 1080p to 4K lay.
According to reports, PSSR only takes up 250 megabytes of RAM and can also be applied to older PS5 games using appropriate patches. Finally, Henderson confirmed that the PS5 Pro, like the PS5 Slim, will be delivered with a removable drive and, with a higher clocked audio processor, will also ensure better sound quality in the games.
Price – How much will the PS5 Pro cost?
The question about the price of the PS5 Pro should be particularly exciting. With the PS4 Pro, Sony decided to offer the mid-gen upgrade at a price of 399.99 euros, while reducing the price of the standard and slim variants.
If Sony stays true to this strategy and if the rumors about the PS5 Pro launch at the end of the year come true, the company would have to reduce the price of the PS5 Slim after just under a year. The console is currently available for 549.99 euros (standard model) or 449.99 euros (digital edition).
A step that we do not expect given the economic development of the last few years. It is therefore conceivable that the PS5 Pro might be a little more expensive than the slim version. Microsoft demonstrated in November 2017 with the launch of the Xbox One X that console providers are willing to accept such a scenario.
At 499 euros, the price of the mid-gen upgrade was a lot higher than the price of the Xbox One S, which was available for 299 euros at the time. However, it must be noted that the Xbox One X was technically more powerful than the PS4 Pro and was also the only console at the time to have a UHD drive. So it's quite possible that the PS5 Pro's features are trying to justify a higher price.
George Jijiashvili, senior principal analyst at Omdia, also came to the conclusion based on the report for the Christmas quarter of 2023 that Sony may not permanently reduce the price of the PS5 – even at the launch of the more powerful Pro console. Customers would have to dig deeper into their pockets for the additional performance.
If Sony does decide to offer the PS5 Pro at a higher price, a version with a disc drive could break the $600 barrier. A price range with which Sony has had negative experiences in the past. Just think of the PS3's bumpy start, which was partly due to its high price.
It will therefore be exciting to see how Sony manages the balancing act between the different PS5 models and their prices in these economically challenging times.
Will there be PS5 Pro exclusive games?
Theoretically conceivable, but in our humble opinion unlikely. With the PS4 Pro, Sony attached great importance to the fact that the PS4 systems belonged to the same console family and were compatible with each other. Things should be similar with the PS5 Pro.
The only potential danger we see, as with the PS4 Pro and Xbox One Consoles lead to mixed performance.
Fortunately, this only happened in isolated cases in the past.
Enhanced label for optimized games on PS5 Pro
Industry leaders assume that possible mid-gen upgrades like the PS5 Pro will not have a noticeable impact on work on games. For example expressed The publisher Take-Two Interactive says that the company simply sees the PS5 Pro as an additional specification that developers have to take into account.
Regardless, like the PS4 Pro, there seems to be an Enhanced label, which insider Tom Henderson wants to know about. He also spoke of a PS5-exclusive mode that would combine the following features:
- PSSR to upscale the resolution to 4K
- Constant 60 FPS
- Add or enhance ray tracing effects
According to Henderson, individual improvements compared to the versions of the basic PS5 are sufficient to receive the enhanced label. We reported:
Analysts, in turn, believe that this was published by Take-Two Interactive Rockstar game “GTA 6” could form a kind of dream team with the PS5 Pro. Sony wants to provide sufficient hardware while the open-world blockbuster benefits from the additional power of the mid-gen console. Of a Impulse for the entire industry is even being talked about.
Ultra Boost mode is intended to boost existing PS5 games
Another question is to what extent PS5 games will retroactively benefit from the additional power of the PS5 Pro. With the PS4 Pro and Xbox One
In addition, he is coming Ultra Boost Mode comes into play, which can lead to better results by enabling a higher frame rate in VRR modes. The same applies to the results of variable resolutions. This means that some games will benefit even if they are not specifically optimized for the PS5 Pro. However, the Ultra Boost does not work for all games, as we recently reported:
The official announcement of the PS5 Pro will provide clarity in this regard. Whenever this happens.
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