The PS5 is Sony’s most powerful console to date, and I think it runs incredibly well. But gone are the days when a console could carry itself through an entire generation, as a potential PS5 Pro is looking more likely than ever.
Sony is no stranger to iterating on its consoles. We’ve had several versions of the PSP, colored variants of the PS2, and slimline models of the PS3 and PS4. However, it was with the PS4 that it pushed for a major mid-lifecycle console in the PS4 Pro, which brought more to the table and ran games much faster. Various sources, including The Verge, have now confirmed the PS5 Pro’s existence, and it could even arrive sometime this year.
PS5 Pro release window
The release window for the PS5 Pro is unknown at the time of writing. However, there have been leaks surrounding the device’s specs and launch, which Sony has since taken down via copyright strikes. As pointed out by The Verge’s Tom Warren, the original source for PS5 Pro leaks, a YouTube channel called Moore’s Law is Dead, has now been delisted.
As is also pointed out in the aforementioned article from The Verge, the release window most leaks predict or point to is Holiday 2024. That’s still a pretty wide window, but it would certainly line up with what most companies aim for when trying to maximize sales over the festive period.
I’ll update this section of the article once we have more concrete information. For now, it’s best to take all of this with a pinch of salt.
PS5 Pro specifications
Before the video outlining PS5 Pro specs was taken down, the alleged specifications of the console were captured by VGC. After this, IGN confirmed the specs were real and pulled from Sony’s Developer Network. The PS5 Pro’s specifications according to these leaks are as follows:
- Same CPU as the PS5 but with a faster CPU Mode: This faster CPU mode is enabled by the consoles new GPU, and increases its processing power by 10% to 3.85GHz, though it pulls back GPU performance by 1% as a result.
- New GPU: The PS5 Pro’s GPU is an improvement over the base console of 45%, powered by 33.5 teraflops instead of the original console’s 10.28 teraflops. Performance is going to vary depending on the game being played and the CPU mode being used.
- Better memory: The PS5 Pro will have memory running at 576GB/s compared to the base model’s 448BG/s, an improvement of 28%. Games will also have access to an additional 1.2 GB of system memory, bringing the total to 13.7 GB for each game. This all means that developers can have more load into scenes in their games, be that with larger levels, more detailed characters, or a combination of both. With clever workarounds, this could also lead to incredibly fast loading times, not that the PS5 is too shabby.
- PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution: PSSR is a fancy and PlayStation-exclusive way of saying image upscaling. It’s Sony’s answer to Nvidia’s DLSS and similar upscaling systems. The PS5 Pro will apparently use custom architecture for machine learning, supported by a tonne of processing firepower. What this equates to is support for new and old games on resolutions up to 8K and possibly beyond. We won’t know until we get our hands on one.
How much will the PS5 Pro cost?
The price of the PS5 Pro is another big unknown at the time of writing. The only thing we can do is look at what Sony did with the PS4 and PS4 Pro and make some assumptions based on that. So, the PS4 launched at a price of $399/£349, while the PS4 Pro later released at the same price just 3 years later.
The PS5 was released in 2020 and priced at $499/£449. We’re into 2024 now, so it would make sense based on past data that the PS5 Pro would launch this year at the same price. This is a guess based on a completely different time in the games industry, though.
Where to pre-order a PS5 Pro
At the time of writing, it’s not possible to pre-order the PS5 Pro. However, once it is available for pre-order, one place it’ll certainly become available is PlayStation Direct. This is where Sony is selling more and more products. Still, retailers will almost certainly acquire stock over time before release as well, so you can buy your console from wherever you’re comfortable shopping.
