PS5 Pro Revealed With Upgraded GPU, More Storage, but No Disc Drive; Launch Set for November

The PlayStation 5 Pro is here. Sony took the covers off the PS5 Pro Tuesday, revealing an upgraded console with improved graphical capabilities, advanced ray-tracing features, AI upscaling for better image quality and 2TB SSD storage. The console, which Sony calls its “most advanced and innovative console hardware to date,” however, doesn’t come with a disc drive — players have the option to buy and attach a disc drive to the PS5 Pro separately.

The PS5 Pro was unveiled at Sony’s Technical Presentation on Tuesday, where Mark Cerny, lead architect of the PS5, detailed the upgrades coming to the company’s current-gen console. In most games on the standard PS5, players have to chose between one of two Graphics modes — Fidelity and Performance, with the former offering higher resolution and more graphical detail and the latter prioritising performance. The PS5 Pro will essentially offer the best of both worlds, promising higher framerates of 60fps on most modern games with improved image quality closer to Fidelity mode.

The PS5 Pro features a similar design to the existing PS5
Photo Credit: Sony

PS5 Pro price and availability

The upgrades, however, come at a cost. The PS5 Pro comes at an MSRP of $699.99 (roughly Rs. 58,750). That’s $200 more than the $499 PS5 Slim, which comes with a disc drive. Adding a disc drive to the PS5 Pro would bump up the effective price of the new console to $780 (Sony sells the disc drive separately at $79.99). The console comes with a DualSense controller, but the vertical stand is sold separately.

The PS5 Pro will launch in select markets on November 7, 2024, and can be purchased at participating retailers, or directly from PlayStation at direct.playstation.com. Preorders for the console will begin on September 26. Sony has not yet announced India pricing and availability for the PS5 Pro. The console comes in the familiar dual-tone black and white colourway, but Sony confirmed more colour options for console covers will be available later.

PS5 Pro upgrades and features

Sony is promising three standout performance features on the PS5 Pro that will bring higher fidelity graphics with smoother frame rates at 60fps. Here’s what you’re getting for $700:

An upgraded GPU: PS5 Pro’s GPU comes with 67 percent more Compute Units than the standard PS5. It also gets a 28 percent faster memory. These upgrades enable up to 45 percent faster rendering for gameplay, Sony claims.

Advanced ray-tracing features: Certain games on the standard PS5 support ray-tracing in Fidelity mode, bringing more realistic reflections. The PS5 Pro promises even more powerful ray-tracing features that provide “more dynamic reflection and refraction of light.” According to Sony, this will allow the rays to be cast at speeds that are double, and on occasion triple, that of the standard PS5.

PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution: The PS5 Pro is also debuting a new AI upscaling feature, dubbed PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR), which — like other upscaling methods — uses a machine learning-based technology to add more detail to the image.

The new PS5 Pro compared side-by-side with the PS5 Slim model
Photo Credit: Sony

These upgrades are promised to essentially bring 4K gameplay with 60fps performance (this would likely depend on the games, as well). The PS5 Pro will also come with PS5 Pro Game Boost, which, much like FPS boost on Xbox Series S/X, will apply to over 8,500 backward compatible PS4 games playable on the new console. Sony said the feature “may stabilize or improve the performance of supported PS4 and PS5 games” — so don’t expect a consistent performance boost across all titles. The PS5 Pro also promises to improve the resolution on select PS4 games. The console supports Wi-Fi 7 for faster digital downloads, variable refresh rate and 8K gaming.

According to Sony, several games will get free updates that will utilise PS5 Pro’s features. Updated games will also come with a ‘PS5 Pro Enhanced’ label. The company confirmed a list of first-party and third-party games that will be updated for the PS5 Pro. These include 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 2, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, The Crew Motorfest, The First Descendant, The Last of Us Part II Remastered, and more.

In terms of design, while Sony has not revealed exact dimensions, but it said the PS5 Pro is just as tall as the original PS5, but a little taller than the PS5 Slim. The new console’s width, however, is the same as the current digital edition PS5 Slim model.