After several rumors and leaks, the PlayStation 5 Pro is finally official: It features a new GPU, a $700 price tag, and no built-in disc drive. But is that all? What makes this new console 40 percent more expensive than the existing PS5 you can buy today for $500 — the same one that's likely to go on sale over the holidays, shortly after the Pro's Nov. 7 release date.
What are the differences between the PS5 and PS5 Pro that make it (depending on who you ask) a worthwhile upgrade or a waste of money?
Differences in specifications and performance
The PS5 Pro has three key performance improvements over the standard PS5, according to Sony technical presentation announcementunveiled by PS5 Lead Architect Mark Cerny. It features a new, more powerful GPU for increased processing power and faster rendering; advanced ray tracing for improved in-game reflections and more immersive lighting; and a new PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR) upscaler to keep frame rates high without sacrificing resolution and image quality.
The GPU is really the star of the show, as Sony says it promises to have 67 percent more compute units and 28 percent faster memory, resulting in 45 percent faster rendering. But the CPU speed and storage on the PS5 Pro haven't changed, so while it should offer 4K resolution, and If you maintain 60 fps or higher, your console may not load or launch games faster.
The biggest change for current PS5 owners here is that playing on a PS5 Pro will no longer require choosing between Performance and Fidelity modes (the choice many current games force on users in order to prioritize frame rate smoothness). either Sony could change those limits with the PS5 Pro, though, as the upcoming console also supports 8K gaming. It’s possible that Performance and Fidelity modes will still exist if playing games in 8K means sacrificing frame rate once again, which it almost certainly will. The difference is that most people won’t care, because who the hell has an 8K TV right now?
As for ray tracing, it's a feature that has been supported on the PS5 since launch. But the PS5 Pro… advanced Ray tracing promises to improve this, with more dynamic light reflections and refractions. Basically, games with nice lighting and lots of reflections should look a little prettier (rejoice, Gran Turismo 7 So far, ray tracing on the current PS5 has been a bit lackluster compared to what's possible on PCs with high-end GPUs (which, to be fair, cost more than a PS5 Pro on its own). But that's more to do with the games themselves than the console. Many titles aren't optimized for ray tracing on the console, though there have been some standout PS5 titles like Marvel's Spider-Man 2 that have good ray tracing performance. The PS5 Pro should improve its appearance without compromising frame rates.
The ai-controlled image scaler PSSR is the most technical of the PS5 Pro’s features. It’s very similar to Nvidia’s popular DLSS feature on PC, and is a post-processing tool that helps achieve higher frame rates at high resolutions. The standard PS5 uses more conventional anti-aliasing, while the PS5 Pro will use machine learning to scale things based on whatever’s actively being rendered on screen. It’s one of those things that works in the background to sort out the small details.
Another way the PS5 Pro should perform better than the current PS5 is its support for Wi-Fi 7 (the PS5 has Wi-Fi 6, and it didn’t even make the jump to 6E when the Slim came out). That can be helpful for downloading huge games to the Pro’s internal 2TB SSD at faster speeds, but only if your home network supports Wi-Fi 7, which most people haven’t adopted yet due to the cost involved. Notably, this feature won’t help Remote Play on the PlayStation Portal, as Sony’s one-trick handheld for console streaming is bafflingly limited to Wi-Fi. 5.
Physical hardware differences (what we know so far)
Aside from the new GPU and the modified cooling system it will require, the biggest physical differences in the PS5 Pro are its design and the absence of a disc drive. The Pro will be tall and long like the original PS5, but with the thinness of the revised Slim model. It has a new finned design element in the side slots of its removable plates (for which Sony will sell customizable replacements at a later point). Personally, I think it's still a bit ugly, and I fear that Sony's refusal to show the front of the console in landscape orientation means there's another weird trick planned to let it sit on its side. The Slim used ridiculous-looking little legs like a pizza saver to keep it balanced. I'd hate to see the more expensive Pro do the same.
The lack of a disc drive can be remedied by purchasing the same $79.99 modular unit that Sony already sells for the PS5 Slim. So rather than having the option of buying a PS5 Pro with or without a disc drive (the practice Sony started with the first PS5 at launch), you’re left buying your own. It’s fair to think that a “pro” console requires all the bells and whistles, including physical media that some fans may prefer, but this may just be the beginning of the digital-only future for the next generation of consoles. And at least the M.2 slot remains on the Pro, for adding even faster storage.
Another I/O element that’s constantly changing across PS5 consoles is the USB ports, which on the PS5 Pro continue the slow march toward being almost entirely USB-C. Below is a simple breakdown of the USB ports on all three PlayStation 5 consoles since launch:
- PlayStation 5 (original): One USB-C and one USB-A on the front / Two USB-A on the back
- PS5 (slim): Two USB-C on the front / Two USB-A on the back
- PS5 Pro: Two USB-C on the front / One USB-C and one USB-A on the back
So you still have four USB ports total on the PS5 Pro (thankfully) and most of them are USB-C. We don't know how fast each of them is on the Pro, but considering both Original PS5 and The thin one It has three 10Gbps SuperSpeed ports and one slower port, so it's likely the Pro will follow suit.
One thing that won’t change is the controllers. The PS5 Pro will ship with the same white DualSense controller as always, with its potentiometer-based analog sticks that can develop drift over time. The Pro would have been a good opportunity for the DualSense to switch to drift-free Hall-effect sticks, but no such luck.
Who is the PlayStation 5 Pro for?
This is the second console generation with a mid-cycle “Pro” model release, and while the PS4 Pro seemed to be generally well-received in 2016, let's not forget that it launched at the original PS4 price of $400 along with a more economical The Slim model. The market is very different now, with the PS5 Slim offering no price reduction (aside from the occasional bundled game) and the PS5 Pro priced at a steep $700 (or $780 with the extra disc drive).
The PS5 Pro seems to be aimed primarily at PlayStation superfans, who might buy it at almost any price point. But there are other people who are looking for something they can just boot up and play, without having to deal with controllers or the setups and costs of a gaming PC. For those people, the PS5 Pro seems like a great option, even if the cost might make them balk at first.
