In a technical presentation, Sony finally confirmed the existence of the PS5 Pro, not that there was much doubt about it following PlayStation’s own 30 anniversary graphic. Presented by Mark Cerny, lead architect of the console, the mid generation update finally solves the pain point of the generation – choosing between Fidelity and Performance modes, or between graphics and frame rate.
Cerny says that the PS5 Pro touts three key elements that will both meet the minimum 60fps, while also providing graphics that’s pretty close to Fidelity mode. The first is a larger GPU paired with RAM that’s 28% faster, leading to 45% faster rendering. Second is improved ray tracing that’s between twice or thrice as fast as the base model PS5. And finally, there’s AI-driven upscaling, which is where the previously talked about PSSR comes into play.
The presentation then goes on presenting games running on the PS5 Pro to the base console in both Performance and Fidelity mode. For the latter, you’ll have to watch it in motion to appreciate the difference, but for the former, the difference is clear as day. If the presentation is to be believed, gamers will finally not have to choose between graphics and 60fps, delivering on what the console generation originally promised.
One part of the PS5 Pro that was not mentioned in the presentation, but is instead mentioned in a PlayStation Blog post, is that the console will come with 2TB of SSD storage. Which is substantially higher than ever before, as even the redesigned PS5, colloquially dubbed the Slim, only gets 1TB.
As part of the short presentation, Cerny also confirms that game devs are adding support for the added performance that the PS5 Pro delivers to “new and existing titles“. He also mentions that gamers choose Performance mode over Fidelity mode “about three quarters of the time”. Which is an obvious choice, and the divide sounds about right when you break down the gaming population between the casual and the hardcore crowd.
But probably the most important part of the presentation is the release date of the PS5 Pro also being revealed. Which is 7 November, 2024, and for US$699.99 (~RM3,060), which is a pretty hefty price tag, to say the least. And unfortunately, it is doing the PS5 Slim thing where the vertical stand is sold separately. At the time of writing, there are no local prices yet, but that will probably come soon, via a Southeast Asia-specific PlayStation Blog post, as it usually does.
(Source: PlayStation [1], [2])
