PlayStation 5 Pro Finally Revealed, And Its Release Date Is Right Around The Corner

It's been four years since the launch of the original PlayStation 5 model, as well as a year since the release of the thinner PlayStation 5 Slim. The console's initial scarcity made it a bit tricky to track down for a long while, but gradually, most players who have wanted a PS5 were able to track one down. While the base PlayStation 5 model is an exceptionally powerful game console, though, there are always greater heights to reach — which is why Sony has finally divulged details on the long-awaited, long-speculated PlayStation 5 Pro model.

In a presentation this morning, Mark Cerny, Lead Architect of the PS5 console, provided a brief overview on what we should expect performance-wise, as well as how much the upgraded PS5 will cost, and when we'll get our hands on it. The PlayStation 5 Pro model will be launching on November 7, 2024, with an MSRP of $699.99, just in time for the Holiday shopping season. The console will come bundled with a 2TB SSD, a DualSense wireless controller, and a digital copy of "Astro's Playroom" loaded and ready to play, just like other PS5 consoles.

According to the presentation and the PlayStation blog, the PlayStation 5 Pro has three major overhauls: a larger GPU, upgraded ray tracing, and machine learning-powered upscaling. The console's GPU now contains 67% more Compute Units than the base PS5 and 28% faster memory, which purportedly leads to an overall improvement of 45% when rendering gameplay. The ray tracing systems have been upgraded, casting rays at up to triple the speed that the base PS5 is capable of. This creates much more realistic and dynamic lighting and reflection effects. 

The biggest highlight is the addition of PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution — or PSSR — an AI-powered upscaling system that improves graphical clarity pixel by pixel, granting the console's already impressive graphics a new level of sharpness and detail. When compared to the Fidelity and Performance processing modes on the base PS5, the PS5 Pro's operation has double the overall power of the former, and sharper and crisper graphics than the latter. All of this upscaling is accomplished without impacting the framerate of games.

Besides the "big three" highlights, the PS5 Pro will also feature Game Boost improvements for over 8,500 backward compatible PS4 games. For those that don't get the full extent of the hardware improvements, Enhanced Image Quality tech will still provide a modest improvement. As for PS5 games, many major releases like "Horizon Forbidden West," "Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart," and "Marvel's Spider-Man 2" will be receiving free software updates to better utilize the PS5 Pro's capabilities. Those that receive updates will also receive a "PS5 Pro Enhanced" label on their respective store pages and boxes.