Sony has announced its most powerful video game console yet, the PlayStation 5 Pro, which is an updated model of the PlayStation 5 announced in 2020.
Like the PS4 Pro, the PS5 Pro is all about improving the graphical fidelity of your games, with three major new improvements to achieve that goal.
The first of these is an updated GPU. While still based on the same architecture, the PS5 Pro’s GPU now features 67% more compute units and 28% faster memory. Sony claims these changes provide 45% faster game rendering compared to the PS5.
The other improvement is hardware-accelerated ray tracing. Considering that AMD graphics rely on their compute units for ray tracing, the increase in the number of compute units also increases ray tracing performance. Sony claims that the PS5 Pro’s GPU can cast rays at double or even triple the rate of the PS5’s GPU.
Finally, Sony also announced a new AI-driven image upscaling solution that it has developed in-house. Called PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution, it uses AI and machine learning to upscale images to a higher resolution. Considering that this is likely a hardware-accelerated solution, it should deliver better results than the mediocre software-based AMD FSR technology that PS5 games used, and should be on par with Nvidia’s DLSS or Intel’s XeSS. Sony didn’t mention any frame generation aspects, however, so this appears to be purely an image upscaling solution.
Speaking about the new hardware, PlayStation Chief Architect Mark Cerny mentioned the need for a performance and quality toggle within games on the PS5, which allows the user to choose between high frame rates or image quality. This resulted in users choosing performance mode 3/4 times for better frame rates, which compromised image quality.
The goal of the PS5 Pro, it seems, was to make this toggle redundant and deliver the image quality you expect from quality mode at 60 FPS, thus offering the best of both worlds.
With the combination of more powerful hardware and native image upscaling, this seems quite feasible, but we’ll have to wait for native support to come to games to see if the claim holds up. Sony has showcased a handful of first- and third-party titles taking advantage of the new console’s improved performance. Games optimized for the new console will feature a PS5 Pro Enhanced badge.
Sony also announced a new PS5 Pro Game Boost feature, which can be applied to over 8,500 PS4 titles and boost their resolution and frame rate for the new console. The new console also features Wi-Fi 7 in regions where it’s supported, as well as support for VRR and 8K displays.
The new console features only minor changes from the standard PS5. It’s taller than the current slim model, but it’s the same thickness as the PS5 model without a Blu-ray disc. The PS5 Pro doesn’t have an optional optical disc drive, and users will have to buy one separately (it’s the same drive available for the PS5). The only consolation here is that the PS5 Pro includes 2TB of internal storage compared to 1TB on the standard model.
The PS55 Pro costs $700, which is 56% more than the $450 price tag of the digital PS5. The console goes on sale later this year on November 7, with pre-orders starting on September 26.