Sony has officially revealed the long-rumored mid-generation upgrade model for the PlayStation 5. Dubbed the PlayStation 5 Pro (just like the PlayStation 4 Pro before it), the new, more powerful console will be released on Nov. 7 and cost $699.99.
The PS5 Pro is styled like the “slim” PS5, except for a triple groove across its flanks. It has the same dimensions as the current models, but will be available only in an all-digital version; Sony’s existing add-on optical drive for 4K Blu-ray Discs, which costs $79.99, is compatible with the upcoming console.
Sony promises that the machine will run games at smoother frame rates and higher display resolutions, and with better ray tracing — a technology that creates realistic lighting, reflections, and shadows — than the base PS5 does.
In a video presentation on Tuesday, Mark Cerny, lead architect for PlayStation consoles dating back to the PS4, said the PS5 Pro is focused on a “big three” of new technologies: a larger graphics processing unit and speedier memory that combine to deliver 45% faster rendering than the base PS5; advanced ray tracing that operates at double or triple the speeds of the base console; and an AI-driven upscaler that improves display resolution and image clarity.
Cerny said the aim of the PS5 Pro was to eliminate the difficult choice between fidelity mode and performance mode in current games. In the presentation, he showed games that he said were running at “something like” fidelity mode levels of detail, but at double the frame rate of the base PS5. The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered’s fidelity mode will run at 60 frames per second on PS5 Pro rather than 30 fps, for example. Meanwhile, performance modes in several games will boast much sharper, higher-resolution images.
Cerny also showed enhanced versions of other first- and third-party games: Horizon Forbidden West running with improved graphics, Gran Turismo 7 with ray-traced reflections between cars at 60 fps, and Hogwarts Legacy with better reflections and shadows. Other games set to get enhanced versions include Alan Wake 2, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Demon’s Souls, Dragon’s Dogma 2, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, The Crew Motorfest, and The First Descendant.
Outside of enhanced versions of games, a new feature called Game Boost “may stabilize or improve performance” on the PS5 Pro across the entire PS5 and backward-compatible PS4 libraries, Sony said. In addition, Enhanced Image Quality for PS4 games will improve the resolution on select titles.
Thanks to developer documentation that leaked earlier in the year, the PS5 Pro’s specs were already known and understood. The short, layperson’s version is that PS5 Pro should deliver superb image quality on a 4K TV, and that more games will boast better ray-tracing features when running on the console. But the big gains in frame rate that many gamers will be hoping for will likely be beyond it. Instead, the console will offer smoother, more consistent performance.
Considering the asking price, that might not seem like much. (The console will cost £699.99 in the U.K., €799.99 in Europe, and 119,980 yen in Japan.) When the PS4 Pro launched in 2016, TV manufacturers were pushing 4K displays hard, so there was an obvious market for a console that could support them. There are no such changes happening in the TV market right now, so Sony might have a harder time convincing PS5 owners of the need to upgrade. But, as analysts have pointed out, the release of Grand Theft Auto 6 in 2025 might present Sony with an opportunity to market the PS5 Pro as the best way to play what is likely to be the biggest game of the decade.
