After several months of leaks and rumors, Sony has officially revealed the PS5 Pro console, a mid-gen refresh of its current console generation. That includes a confirmed price, release date, specs, lack of a disc drive, and more details.
This isn’t unprecedented, as Sony introduced a PS4 Pro in the last console generation aimed at making 4K gaming more commonplace. The PS5 Pro builds on that idea, as this console aims to offer a more consistent 4K/60fps (or higher) experience. To do this, the PS5 Pro is equipped with some impressive hardware and software upgrades in comparison to a base model PS5. Here’s everything that we know about the PS5 Pro so far.
PS5 Pro release date
PS5 Pro console and DualSense controller
You won’t have to wait long for the PS5 Pro to release, as it’ll be available starting November 7, 2024. Preorders will begin on September 26, 2024
The PS5 generation may be nearing the finish line, and while that’ll still be a couple years from now, Sony’s senior vice president Naomi Matsuoka is aiming to find the right balance between “profitability and sales” as PS5 hardware sales start decreasing. “Looking ahead, PS5 will enter the latter stage of its life cycle. As such, we will put more emphasis on the balance between profitability and sales,” Matsuoka said in February. More recently, Sony acknowledge that PS5 sales growth is likely over.
PS5 Pro price
A side view of the PS5 Pro.
Unsurprisingly, the PS5 Pro will cost more than the regular PS5. The launch price will be $700 in the US, while other regions will see prices of £700, €800, and ¥119,980.
No disc drive
The PS5 Pro does not include a disc drive, but it does support the PS5 disc-drive attachment. That means existing PS5 owners will need to pick up the official PS5 disc drive for $80 to play their collection of physical games on PS5 Pro. The drive will also be necessary for playing physical movies.
Leaked PS5 Pro specs
While Sony did explore some of the big improvements to the PS5 Pro, it didn’t reveal exactly what’s inside the new console.
According to previous leaks, the PS5 Pro specs include a “High CPU Frequency Mode” that reportedly increases the PS5 CPU by 10% to 3.85Ghz. Digital Foundry also corroborated these claims and it posted a list of the reported PS5 Pro specs back in March:
PS5PS5 ProCPU Architecture/ Clock SpeedsEight core/16 Thread Zen 2 at 3.5GHzEight core/16 Thread Zen 2 at 3.5GHz/3.85GHzGPU Compute Units/ Architecture36 CUS, RDNA 260 CUs, RNDA 3 (TBC)TFLOPs/GPU Clock Speed10.23TF/ 2.23GHz33.5TF/ 2.18GHz (TBC)GDDR6 Memory16GB at 14Gbps16GB at 18GbpsMemory Available For Games12.5GB13.7GBMemory Interface/ Bandwidth256-bit/448GB/s256-bit/576GB/s
PS5 Pro upgrades
You’ll need the optional disc drive to play physical games on the PS5 Pro.
Sony revealed the “Big Three” upgrades of the PS5 Pro on its blog, and between them, the console is said to be close to doubling the power of a base PS5. On the hardware side, there’s an improved GPU, and for software, Sony is introducing PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution, an AI-driven upscaling tool similar to Nvidia’s DLSS and AMD’s FSR.
Upgraded GPU
“With PS5 Pro, we are upgrading to a GPU that has 67% more Compute Units than the current PS5 console and 28% faster memory. Overall, this enables up to 45% faster rendering for gameplay, making the experience much smoother.”
Advanced Ray Tracing
“We’ve added even more powerful ray tracing that provides more dynamic reflection and refraction of light. This allows the rays to be cast at double, and at times triple, the speeds of the current PS5 console.”
AI-Driven Upscaling
“We’re also introducing PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution, an AI-driven upscaling that uses a machine learning-based technology to provide super sharp image clarity by adding an extraordinary amount of detail.”
PS5 Pro Enhanced Games
Similar to the PS4 Pro, the PS5 Pro will play all of the same games available on the PS5 console, but with enhanced features and better performance overall.
“Game creators are adding PS5 Pro support to new and existing titles and with the big three involved the results can be pretty amazing. With graphics showing something like Fidelity levels of detail but at double the frame rate,” PS5 lead system architect Mark Cerny explained in the PS5 Pro livestream. “This goal of delivering almost Fidelity-like graphics at Performance frame rates has been achieved for a broad set of titles, including Marvel’s Spider-Man and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. We can see that PS5 Pro is close to doubling the power of PS5.”
So far, 13 PS5 Pro Enhanced games have been revealed, and the list includes a mix of first and third-party titles.
PS5 Pro design
The PS5 Pro has distinctive ridges in its design.
The PS5 Pro isn’t deviating from the current aesthetics of the PS5 and its slimmer revision. The new model has several stripe-like patterns in the middle, and is roughly the same height and width as the original PS5 so as to accommodate the higher performance specs.
What’s in the PS5 Pro box?
The PS5 Pro includes a 2TB SSD, DualSense controller, and a copy of Astro’s Playroom pre-installed, just like the standard PS5. The Pro does not come with a vertical stand; that will instead need to be purchased separately.
PS5 Pro hardware compatibility
The PS5 Pro next to the current PS5 Slim console.
Sony says the PS5 Pro is compatible with the PS5 accessories currently available, including PlayStation VR2, PlayStation Portal, the DualSense Edge controller, the Access controller, Pulse Elite headset, and Pulse Explore earbuds. The user interface and network services will also remain the same as PS5.
