What we know so far

The PlayStation 5 lineup recently had a shake-up in the form of the PS5 Slim, but sights have already turned toward another variant, the PS5 Pro. It should be a half-step upgrade like the PS4 Pro, but there’s still a lot of speculation swirling about what Sony will offer this time around. We’ve gathered all the key rumors and details for you right here.

PS5 Pro release date

The latest expectation is a launch in time for the 2024 holiday shopping season. While there haven’t been any concrete reports or announcements along those lines, leaked data from Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Developer Network (more on that below) has hinted at the prospect, and it would make sense both in terms of release history and Sony’s current financials. The PS4 Pro shipped in November 2016, three years after the original PS4 — and while Sony has waited almost four years to update the PS5, sales of the console have started to slow down to the point where a Pro model would make sense. Indeed the standard PS5 is starting to show its age, since it can’t handle technologies like ray tracing at high framerates.

PS5 Pro price

The current PS5 — the Slim — costs $499 for a version with a disc drive, and $449 without. Considering that the PS4 Pro consistently sat around $100 more than the base PS4, a $599 pricetag seems likely. Sony could hypothetically drop the price of the Slim and still keep a $100 price gap, but the company presumably wants to recoup as much of the cost of the new hardware as possible.

PS5 Pro design

It’s typically assumed that Sony will stick to a version of existing PS5 design(s) for the sake of recognition. Beyond that, we don’t know what it has in mind. We’d expect the Pro to be larger than the Slim however, if not the original PS5. That will probably be necessary to accommodate both faster processor tech and the cooling systems to keep it going. Liquid cooling been rumored in the past.

The only other point worth making here is that we might see some sort of “Pro” branding. That’s just speculation, mind. The PS4 Pro lacked any special logo.

PS5 Pro specs

This of course is the Pro’s raison d’être. The most recent info comes from Sony’s Developer Network, first reported by Moore’s Law is Dead on YouTube, then later corroborated by publications like IGN. The highlight is a new GPU with 33.5 teraflops, contributing to a 45% overall increase in rendering power over a regular PS5. Ray-traced lighting is expected to be two to four times faster, making it more realistic to have it on in games like Spider-Man 2 or Cyberpunk 2077 and maintain framerates at or above 60fps.

Sony is also said to be implementing proprietary upscaling technology known as PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR). This should be similar to something like Nvidia’s DLSS, which increases framerates by rendering game content at a low resolution, but then using AI techniques to boost output resolution. It should be assisted by new custom architecture for machine learning (read: AI), and contribute to another rumored PS5 Pro feature, which is support for 8K.

You might be wondering about that last one, since the PS5 has always been technically capable of 8K. In practice though the current version is limited to 4K, which is just as well, since native 8K gaming can crush a $3,000 PC — never mind a $500 console. PSSR may be Sony’s “cheat,” and vital to justifying the existence of the company’s 8K Bravia TVs.

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Should you wait to buy the PS5 Pro?

If you don’t already have a PlayStation, or you’re upgrading from a PS4, it makes sense to hold out for the PS5 Pro at this stage. The console is likely just a few months out as of this writing, and should offer at least some performance improvement for every PS5 title with 3D graphics. Yes, you’ll probably have to pay more than you would for a base PS5, but the tradeoff should be a console that feels fresh until the inevitable PS6 is announced a few years from now. You’ll get the best version of every game, instead of having to occasionally scale back detail.

The answer is a little more complicated if you already own a PS5. Sony isn’t about to throw base PS5 owners under a bus — your console will still be able to play everything a PS5 Pro can. The only reason to upgrade, then, is if you have the spare cash, and you’re a diehard PlayStation gamer who spends many hours on their console every week. Otherwise, you might as well put that money aside and save for a bigger generational leap.