Sony has officially unveiled the PlayStation 5 Pro, a powerful upgrade for its four-year-old PS5 console. The new hardware can produce improved graphics and smoother gameplay at higher frame rates with more lifelike lighting.
PS5 Pro release date and price
It launches on November 7, and will cost £699.99. Crucially, it looks like it will sell without a disc drive for physical games, though that can currently be bought separately for £100.
It is intended to be sold alongside the base PS5 instead of replacing it, and new games will still be playable on the older hardware, and vice versa for older titles on the new console.
PS5 Pro specs
With the PS5 Pro, Sony is essentially trying to negate the trade-off between smooth gameplay and better visuals that players and game developers currently have to make. This dilemma takes place on the original PS5 in the form of graphics modes, which offer the choice between performance (higher frame rates of up to 60fps or 120fps) and quality (better graphics at 30fps).
The PS5 Pro gives developers the ability to deliver the high-quality graphics they aspire to and players the responsive frame rates they prefer, said Mark Cerny, chief architect of the PS5, during a presentation on the new console.
Sony says the PS5 Pro can render graphics up to 45 per cent faster at up to 60 frames per second. It also boasts two to three times better ray-tracing capabilities, enhancing how light and shadows interact in games to give players a more immersive, realistic experience.
Meanwhile, the console’s AI upscaling tech analyses the picture pixel by pixel, adding detail as it goes to boost the resolution of the games. Sony calls this “PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution” upscaling (or PSSR for short).
This feature is set to deliver high-quality 4K upscaling from lower resolutions, further improving the visual fidelity of games, especially for those without a native 4K display.
Sony showed several existing titles, such as Marvel's Spider-Man 2, Hogwarts Legacy, and The Last of Us Part Two taking full advantage of the PS5 Pro’s improved graphics and performance capabilities. Those hoping to see a new glimpse of GTA 6 were sadly out of luck.
Existing PS5 games will remain playable on both consoles, but the PS5 Pro’s superior hardware will allow developers to pull more detail and enhanced visual effects from the games, even if they were initially developed for the standard PS5.
More games will likely be demoed at the upcoming Tokyo Game Show, which kicks off on September 26 in Sony’s native Japan.
The trend of mid-cycle console upgrades
Credible rumours about the PS5 Pro first surfaced in March 2023, with developers reportedly able to submit compatible games by late July. By mid-September, Sony apparently required that all new PS5 games also support the PS5 Pro, ensuring future titles would work on both consoles.
Mid-cycle console upgrades aren't new. While other companies had dabbled with improved versions of consoles, like Nintendo’s New 3DS in 2014 or Sega’s add-ons for the Genesis in the '90s, the PS4 Pro in 2016 was the first time Sony delivered a major hardware boost within the same console generation.
That console introduced enhanced graphics, 4K resolution, and HDR support, all while maintaining compatibility with the existing PS4 library, setting a new industry standard for iterative upgrades – and paving the way for the PS5 Pro.
Sony’s move with the PS4 Pro spurred Microsoft to release the Xbox One X in 2017, another powerful mid-cycle upgrade. By shifting towards more frequent hardware improvements, Sony and Microsoft broke away from the traditional long console lifecycles and established a new norm in gaming.
Now, with the PS5 Pro, Sony is continuing this trend, and throwing the ball back in Microsoft’s court. Could we see an enhanced Xbox Series X next?
