PlayStation 5 Pro
2024, November 7
Sony announced the PlayStation 5 Pro (PS5 Pro) on September 10, 2024, following industry rumors since March 2024. Among other changes, the new console has three primary improvements: a GPU about 45% faster than that in the existing PlayStation 5, a deep learning-based image upscaling technology called PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR), and twice as fast ray tracing performance compared to the PlayStation 5. As a result, games optimized for the Pro are expected to support 4K resolutions at 60 frames per second. It also ships with 2 TB of internal SSD storage, but does not include an optical disc drive nor vertical stand, which can be purchased separately. The Pro unit also includes support for Wi-Fi 7 and 8K resolution output. Games can be patched to access features of the Pro system, with 50 games expected to be ready with enhanced versions by the system launch. Industry rumors stated that Sony's internal studios had been working with the devkit version of the Pro console as early as September 2023. A Game Boost feature would also allow selected PS4 games to have improved resolutions on the Pro system, with about 8,500 such games set to use this feature at launch. The Pro model was released globally on November 7, 2024, with a price of US$699 / £699 / €799.
The pricing of the PS5 Pro made it one of the most expensive consoles to be released when accounting for inflation, and the second most-expensive within the PlayStation line following the original PlayStation 3 price of $499+. Rolling Stone observed an "overwhelmingly negative" response to the console's limited increase of benefits. Sports Illustrated mocked the price, with editor Dave Aubrey writing: "It feels almost cruel, in a climate like this, to try and convince people that the PS5 Pro, with its meager enhancements, is actually worth the money." Sony president Hiroki Totoki stated in an investor call in November 2024 that the company did not believe the high price had a negative impact on sales, since the Pro model was targeting hardcore users who are willing to pay more for high performance.
