PS5 Pro: Release, Hardware, Ultra Boost, Games

The more powerful PS5 Pro model through the rumor mill. Even though Sony has not yet officially announced the new version of the console and confirmed release dates are still pending, it is certain based on various indications that a Pro model will indeed follow.

Update: (31 August 2024): The article has been updated with the latest rumors about the appearance of the console and the size of the SSD.

We have summarized the most important news and rumors for you – enriched with a few speculations and thoughts from us.

Table of contents:

PS5 Pro release – When will the console be released?

When it comes to the launch window of the PS5 Pro, we have to point out that we are initially dependent on the unconfirmed information from various insiders and leakers. These indicate that Sony could be aiming for a market launch of the PS5 Pro at the end of the year, almost a year after the release of the slim version of the PS5.

For example, the well-connected insider Tom Henderson has spoken several times in recent months that the release of the PS5 Pro End of 2024 Giant Bomb's Jeff Grubb, on the other hand, was a bit more optimistic and gave September 2024 as a possible time frame.

No matter who of the two is right in the end: Compared to the PS4 Pro, which was released about three years after the standard model of the PS4, Sony would take a year longer with the PS5 Pro.

Serkan Toto, CEO of Tokyo-based gaming-focused consultancy Kantan Games, also recently spoke of a broad consensus pointing 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. Firstly, the industry in the semiconductor sector for chips continues to struggle with isolated bottlenecks, which could push back the release of new systems such as the PS5 Pro.

In addition, according to analysts, Nintendo plans to release the successor to the Switch in the second half of 2024 Sony is probably trying to avoid a direct confrontation with Nintendo's new console.

Therefore, we would 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 way off, we reached a detailed leak with technical data on the new Sony console. As the well-connected industry insider Tom Henderson confirmedThe specifications come from a developer presentation by Sony and are indeed real.

But what is the PS5's mid-gen upgrade supposed to do technically? As expected, the PS5 Pro is significantly more powerful than the standard model of the console. This not only applies to the impressive 33.5 teraflops that the GPU scores with on paper. Furthermore, rendering performance increases by 45 percent, while the PS5 Pro offers two to four times the performance in the area of ​​ray tracing, depending on the scenario.

The performance increases in 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 PS5 model (448 GB/s), this represents 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 datawhich were apparently confirmed in the developer presentation are a custom architecture for machine learning and an AI accelerator that supports 300 TOPS of 8-bit calculations / 67 TFLOPS of 16-bit floating point calculations. To relieve the burden on developers and save valuable resources, Sony is also relying on its own DLSS solution.

This is called Playstation Spectral Super Resolution, or PSSR for short. Just like the 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 will 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 come with a removable drive and will also have a higher-clocked audio processor to ensure better sound quality in games.

A familiar design, more storage & an optional drive?

According to a report by the well-known and reliable leaker “bill-bil kun”, Sony's new console will indeed be called PS5 Pro. The Japanese company is also staying true to itself when it comes to naming. According to the leaker, the same applies to the design of the console, which is quite obviously based on the slim version of the PS5.

This applies both to the shape of the console and the fact that the PS5 Pro is white, just like the other PS5 models. The usual two USB-C ports and the power button are located on the front of the system.

The only difference: Sony's Pro model in the middle appears with three black stripes.

While the DualSense controller on the PS5 Pro remains unchanged, according to “bill-bil kun” it is still unclear what the PS5 Pro's drive will look like. According to the leaker, Sony could opt for an optional drive, just like with the PS5 Slim, which can be purchased separately and connected to the console.

If the information provided by “bill-bil kun” is true, then Sony will announce or present the PS5 Pro in the first half of September. The leaker “Moore's Law Is Dead”, which predicts a release in spring 2024, also the first specifications about the PS5 Pro, came forward with further possible details about the new Sony console.

According to his own information, “Moore's Law Is Dead” got to see the dev kit of the PS5 Pro. According to the leaker, this is be equipped with a 2GB SSDThe same could also apply to the final version of the PS5 Pro.

“Moore's Law Is Dead” went on to say that we can expect the new version of the PS5 to operate quietly and coolly, despite the significant performance increase.

Price – How much will the PS5 Pro cost?

The question of the price of the PS5 Pro is likely to be particularly exciting. With the PS4 Pro, Sony decided to offer the mid-gen upgrade for 399.99 euros, while reducing the price of the standard and slim versions.

If Sony sticks to this strategy and just about keeps the rumors about the PS5 Pro launch at the end of the year, the company would have to lower the price of the PS5 Slim after just one 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 to happen given the economic developments of the last few years. It is therefore conceivable that the PS5 Pro could be a little more expensive than the Slim version. Microsoft proved 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 is quite a bit higher than the price of the Xbox One S, which was available at the time for 299 euros. However, it must be noted that the Xbox One X is technically more powerful than the PS4 Pro and is also the only console of the time to have a UHD drive. It is also quite possible that the PS5 Pro's features are an attempt to justify a price.

George Jijiashvili, senior principal analyst at Omdia, also concluded based on the report for the 2023 Christmas quarter that Sony may not permanently lower the price of the PS5 – even at the launch of the more powerful Pro console. Customers would therefore 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 exceed the 600 US dollars or euros mark. A price range that Sony has had negative experiences with in the past. Just think of the bumpy start of the PS3, which was due in part to the high price.

So it will 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 possible, but in our humble opinion unlikely. With the PS4 Pro, Sony already placed great importance on the fact that the PS4 systems belonged to the same console family and were compatible with each other. The same is likely to happen with the PS5 Pro.

The only potential danger we see, just like with the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X, is that towards the end of the console cycle, developers will focus more on the extra power of the mid-gen upgrade, resulting in mixed performance on the standard models of the consoles.

Fortunately, this has 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 and play. For example, expressed Publisher Take-Two Interactive says that the company sees the PS5 Pro as simply an additional specification that developers need to take into account.

Regardless, there seems to be an Enhanced label, as with the PS4 Pro, which insider Tom Henderson claims to have heard about. He also spoke of a PS5-exclusive mode that will combine the following features:

• PSSR to upscale the resolution to 4K
• Constant 60 FPS
• Adding or enhancing ray tracing effects

According to Henderson, isolated improvements over the versions of the base PS5 are enough to receive the Enhanced label. We reported:

Analysts, in turn, believe that the Take-Two Interactive-published Rockstar game “GTA 6” With the PS5 Pro, a kind of dream team could form. Sony wants to provide sufficient hardware, while the open-world blockbuster benefits from the additional power of the mid-gen console. From a Impulses for the entire industry There is even talk of.

Ultra Boost mode is designed 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 X, many developers and publishers have at least decided to retrospectively provide older games with appropriate upgrades.

In addition, the Ultra Boost Mode In the game, which can lead to better results, it enables a higher frame rate with VRR modes. The same applies to the results of variable resolutions. This will benefit some games even if they have not been 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 on this matter, whenever that happens.

More news about PS5 Pro.

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