Sony has officially unveiled the PS5 Pro after months of leaks. During a technical presentation, Mark Cerny, the PS5’s lead architect, explained that the new console enhances the original in three main areas: a more powerful GPU, improved ray tracing capabilities, and AI-driven upscaling.
The PS5 Pro will be released on November 7th for $699.99. Its design resembles the slim version of the PS5, as rumors had indicated, featuring three stripes along the side. The console doesn’t include a disc drive, but you can buy a separate 4K Blu-ray drive and optional covers.
Sony has boosted the GPU in the PS5 Pro, increasing the number of compute units by 67 percent and speeding up the memory by 28 percent compared to the current PS5. This results in games rendering 45 percent faster and improves frame rates without sacrificing visual quality.
The additional power will also enhance ray-traced games, with Sony stating that developers can cast rays at up to two or three times the speed of the standard PS5.
The PS5 Pro introduces Sony’s new AI-driven PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR) feature, which is an upscaling technology similar to Nvidia’s DLSS or AMD’s FSR. This feature enhances frame rates and image quality by replacing a game’s current temporal anti-aliasing or upsampling methods.
During the presentation, Cerny showcased several games on the PS5 Pro, including The Last of Us Part II, which ran with greater detail while maintaining 60fps, compared to the 30fps fidelity mode on the PS5. Sony aims to deliver fidelity-level graphics at high performance frame rates in games like Spider-Man 2 and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart.
Sony is adding a “Game Boost” feature to the PS5 Pro, which will enhance the performance of over 8,500 backward-compatible PS4 games. According to Hideaki Nishino, CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment’s platform business group, this feature may improve stability and performance in supported PS4 and PS5 games. Additionally, select PS4 games will benefit from enhanced image quality with higher resolution.
The PS5 Pro will also support Wi-Fi 7, Variable Refresh Rate (VRR), and 8K resolutions. CNET’s Scott Stein, who tested the console early, mentioned that it now includes a larger 2TB solid-state drive and replaces one of the rear USB-A ports with an additional USB-C port. The console also retains an extra SSD slot for storage expansion.
To fully utilize the PS5 Pro’s new features, games will need patches, and Sony has confirmed that developers are preparing free updates for existing titles. These updated games will be labeled as “PS5 Pro Enhanced,” with up to 50 titles ready by the November 7th launch.
The first PS5 Pro Enhanced games will 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, and The Last of Us Part II Remastered.
The PS5 Pro will be compatible with the PlayStation VR2 headset, with Cerny telling CNET that it will eventually support higher-resolution games for the device. It will also work with the PlayStation Portal handheld and current PS5 controllers. Sony confirmed that the UI and network services for the PS5 Pro will remain the same as the standard PS5.
Preorders for the PS5 Pro will begin on September 26th, ahead of its official launch in stores on November 7th.
