After a little tease late last week, Sony has officially unveiled the PlayStation 5 Pro console ahead of its launch later this year.
Like the PlayStation 4 Pro before it, the PlayStation 5 Pro represents a mid-life refresh for the console, which offers considerably increased capabilities — at a higher price point — for users who want more, but to run alongside the regular, more mainstream console.
You’ll be able to pick up the PlayStation 5 Pro for $699.99 (€799.99/£699.99). when it launches this November, just under 30 years on from the launch of the original PlayStation console.
PlayStation 5 vs PlayStation 5 Pro
The fundamental difference between the base console and the Pro is more power — and specifically more power to the console’s GPU. That will allow the Pro to generate higher resolutions, higher or more stable frame rates, and more graphical effects such as real-time ray-tracing.
Sony hasn’t gone into specifics on the makeup or additional performance of the Pro’s GPU, but says it’s “67% larger”, and features 28% faster memory than the standard PS5. The Pro should be capable of rendering 45% faster.
When it comes to ray-tracing, this gives the Pro console the ability to generate rays at two to three times the rate of the base PS5.
The Pro also features PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution, or PSSR. This is in essence an upscaler, similar to the Nvidia Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) and AMD’s FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) tech, capable of increasing image resolution without sacrificing frame rates.
That should all be enough to make the console capable of generating the resolutions associated with graphical fidelity modes and the frame rates of performance modes at the same time, eliminating the need to pick one or the other.
Games designed to take advantage of the PS5 Pro’s abilities will make free software updates available and come with a “PS5 Pro Enhanced” label. That will include Gran Turismo 7.
Notably, Sony also revealed that the PS5 Pro will come with a 2TB SSD. That’s twice that of the refreshed “Slim” PlayStation 5 , itself a bump over the original 825GB item.
PlayStation 5 Pro Versions
There’s only one version of the PlayStation 5 Pro and, as we suspected, it’s a digital-only device.
That doesn’t mean you’ll no longer be able to use your game discs, as the Pro is fully compatible with the add-on disc drive you can already buy for the updated standard console. You can just swap your existing drive over from your PS5 “Slim”, whether you have the regular console or the add-on drive for the Digital model, and fit it to the Pro.
If you don’t already have it, you can pick up the add-on drive for $79.99 (€119.99/£99.99).
PlayStation 5 Pro Price, Availability, and Accessories
With only one specification available, pricing is simple: the PS5 Pro will set you back $699.99 (€799.99/£699.99). You’ll be able to buy it in stores and from PlayStation Direct from November 7, just shy of four years on from the original console’s launch, with pre-orders from September 26.
The Pro will be compatible with all existing PS5 accessories, including the Portal, PlayStation VR2, and additional controllers and audio options like the DualSense Edge and Pulse 3D.
It’s not yet clear if it will be compatible with the swappable covers: the Pro is the height of the original PS5 but the depth of the Slim, and if the height difference is only in that triple-blade motif it’s a possibility — particularly as the lower half will accept the standard add-on disc drive and its cover.
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