Sony officially confirmed the PS5 Pro on Tuesday (10), ending speculation. In a presentation led by Mark Cerny, the lead architect behind the console, the company highlighted the enhanced capabilities of the new PlayStation 5 Pro, which promises up to 45% better performance than the original model.
Set to launch on November 7th; the PS5 Pro will come with a DualSense controller and a pre-installed copy of Astro’s Playroom. However, it won’t include a disc drive. The price is $699.99 in the US, and pre-orders will begin on September 26.
Despite the release of the PS5 Pro, the PlayStation 5 Slim currently retails for around $430 in the US and won’t see an immediate price drop. Market analysts attribute this to rising costs of key components, especially the SSD, which has significantly kept prices high for Sony’s consoles.
What is the PlayStation 5 Pro like?
The PlayStation 5 Pro retains much of the iconic design of the PS5 Slim, with its recognizable white faceplates stretching over the console’s black body. However, one key visual difference is a diagonal black strip on the upper section, which sets it apart from the other versions of the PS5 lineup.
At launch, the PS5 Pro will not include a disc drive, but Sony has confirmed that it will be compatible with the external disc drive currently sold for the PS5 Slim.
Under the hood, the PS5 Pro comes with significant hardware upgrades, powered by a new semi-custom AMD SoC named “Viola,” and built by TSMC. While still using the Zen2 architecture, it features improved 4nm lithography, making it more efficient and slightly faster, with a clock speed of 3.85 GHz, a notable upgrade over the 3.55 GHz found in the original model.
The Pro version also boosts its RAM performance. Although it still has 16 GB of RAM, the transfer rate jumps from 14,000 MT/s to 18,000 MT/s, delivering a 28% increase that speeds up data transfers for more complex graphics.
The GPU overhaul brings a major performance boost, blending AMD’s RDNA3 and RDNA4 architectures and packing 60 compute units—67% more than the base model. This results in a 45% faster rendering of game graphics, offering smoother gameplay.
Ray tracing has also seen a massive improvement, with new RDNA4-based accelerators boosting performance by 2 to 3 times for rendering photorealistic scenes. This allows players to enjoy high frame rates and detailed visuals without toggling between performance and fidelity modes. Games optimized for the PS5 Pro will carry the “PS5 Pro Enhanced” label.
The initial lineup of PS5 Pro Enhanced games includes 13 titles, all expected to run at 4K and 60 FPS:
- Alan Wake 2
- Assassin’s Creed: Shadows
- Demon’s Souls
- Dragon’s Dogma 2
- Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
- Gran Turismo 7
- Hogwarts Legacy
- Horizon Forbidden West
- Marvel’s Spider-Man
- Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
- The Crew Motorfest
- The First Descendant
- The Last of Us Part II Remastered
Some titles, like Gran Turismo 7, will offer additional modes, including 8K resolution and native 4K with ray tracing. Games could also feature enhanced visual details, such as volumetric lighting.
The PS5 Pro introduces PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR), Sony’s AI-powered upscaling technology. Like NVIDIA’s DLSS and AMD’s FSR, PSSR uses machine learning to upscale Full HD graphics to 4K HDR without overloading the GPU, significantly boosting image quality. Unlike DLSS, however, PSSR doesn’t require prior training.
Other PS5 Pro improvements
After the PS5 Pro’s unveiling, Sony highlighted several additional upgrades with the new console. One notable improvement is the inclusion of 2 TB of SSD storage, doubling the space compared to previous models.
The PS5 Pro also introduces a Game Boost feature, designed to enhance the performance of over 8,500 backward-compatible PlayStation 4 games. This feature helps stabilize frame rates and improve performance, allowing older titles to benefit from the PS5 Pro’s upgraded hardware. Some last-gen games will even use the new image quality enhancement techniques built into the console.
Regarding connectivity, the PS5 Pro will support Wi-Fi 7, the latest wireless standard, promising faster and more reliable network performance. The hardware has also seen some tweaks: one of the rear USB-A ports has been replaced with a USB-C port, offering more versatility for modern peripherals. Additionally, Sony has added an extra slot for expanding internal storage with another SSD, giving users more flexibility to store their games and media.
Is the PS5 Pro worth buying?
The PlayStation 5 Pro represents a significant upgrade over the original PS5 launched in 2020. It incorporates cutting-edge advancements in hardware, like updated lithography and new graphics architecture, to provide a noticeable boost in both performance and efficiency.
One of the key innovations in the PS5 Pro is its use of artificial intelligence and machine learning, which elevate the console’s capabilities to rival what PC gamers currently enjoy. Thanks to these improvements, the PS5 Pro can finally deliver on the original promise of 4K gaming at 60 FPS without sacrificing either performance or visual quality.
This makes the PS5 Pro an ideal platform for gamers seeking top-tier performance and a premium console experience. However, this comes at a steep cost. Priced at $700 internationally.
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