SAN MATEO, Calif — Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) recently revealed the PlayStation 5 Pro, which they say is the "most visually compelling way to play games on PlayStation."
How much is the PlayStation 5 Pro?
As of right now, the upgraded console is sitting at a recommended retail price (RRP) of $699.99 USD. This is approximately $250 more expensive than the current PlayStation 5 console, which currently costs approximately $449.99 to $499.99 depending on what model you buy as well as where you buy it.
With a console that is much more expensive than the current PlayStation 5, Sony displayed the upgrades that come with the console to justify the jump in price.
What upgrades are offered with the console?
The PlayStation 5 Pro, or PS5 Pro, is packed with new technological advances that will offer some of the most powerful console performances on the modern market.
One of the first changes brought up by PlayStation is the storage space that will be available for the console. For comparison, the PlayStation 5 comes with 825GB of space built in, with about 667.2GB left over after core system files for the operating system are downloaded.
The PlayStation 5 Pro comes with 2 Terabytes of storage before downloading necessary files. It could be safe to assume that after necessary files are downloaded, the PlayStation 5 Pro will have approximately 1.84 Terabytes of storage available for users, but that has not been confirmed.
Secondly, the PS5 Pro's upgraded GPU (graphics processing unit) comes with 67% more compute units than the PS5 console, along with 28% faster memory. Overall, Sony says this will allow for 45% faster rendering of games, making games run even faster.
The console will also boast advanced ray tracing. Ray tracing is a rendering technique that allows video games to realistically simulate the lighting of a scene and its objects, making reflections look and behave as they would in the real world, whether they be direct lights, reflections, shadows or refractions.
The advanced ray tracing allows even more dynamic reflection and refraction of light at more than twice the speed of the current PS5.
The final headlining change is the AI-driven upscaling with PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution. This technology uses artificial intelligence as a learning-based technology to help create sharper images by predicting and filling in certain images.
When does the PlayStation 5 Pro come out?
Pre-orders of the PlayStation 5 Pro will become available on Sept. 26, with the console officially launching on Nov. 7.
The PlayStation 5 Pro will be available at participating retailers as well as directly from PlayStation at direct.playstation.com.
Some games that have already been released will be taking advantage of the PS5 Pro's features, releasing a special PS5 Pro enhanced version alongside other games that have yet to release. The list of games provided by Sony includes: 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.
The console will also include the "PS5 Pro Game Boost," which will allow for over 8,500 games from the PlayStation 4 to be backwards compatible, making them playable on the PS5 Pro.
Current accessories that are available for the PlayStation 5 will be available and compatible with the PlayStation 5 Pro.
The PlayStation 5 Pro will not include a disc drive, requiring all games acquired for the console to be digital.
