Amidst leaks and reports, it looks like Sony may be ready to introduce a mid-gen refresh of the PS5, colloquially referred to as the PlayStation 5 Pro. This isn't unprecedented, as Sony introduced a PS4 Pro in the last console generation aimed at making 4K gaming more commonplace. For now, Sony's lips are sealed on the topic of the PS5 Pro, and it has yet to officially confirm or deny its existence. Still, there are plenty of rumors and reports out in the wild, and we've rounded them up to paint an interesting picture of the potential console. Ahead of May's State of Play showcase, here's a look at the rumored details about the mid-gen refresh.
Current reports suggest that Sony will launch the PS5 Pro in the second half of the year, specifically toward the end of 2024 and during the potentially lucrative holiday season. The PS5 generation may be nearing the finish line, and while that'll still be a couple years from now, Sony's senior vice president Naomi Matsuoka is aiming to find the right balance between "profitability and sales" as PS5 hardware sales start decreasing. "Looking ahead, PS5 will enter the latter stage of its life cycle. As such, we will put more emphasis on the balance between profitability and sales," Matsuoka said in February. More recently, Sony acknowledge that PS5 sales growth is likely over.
If history repeats itself, a PS5 Pro launching toward the golden years of the PS5 isn't unlikely, as the new hardware could help reinvigorate PlayStation sales.
According to leaks, the PS5 Pro specs include a "High CPU Frequency Mode" that reportedly increases the PS5 CPU by 10% to 3.85Ghz. There's a new GPU that is said to be capable of up to 45% faster rendering and dramatically improves ray-tracing effects. Digital Foundry has also corroborated these claims and it posted a list of the reported the PS5 Pro specs back in March:
So what kind of performance upgrade can potential PS5 Pro users expect? The big takeaway here is that the experience will be similar to what the PS4 Pro offered its adopters, as the PS5 Pro is said to make existing games look and perform better. As Digital Foundry noted, users can expect games running at 30fps to be more stable--several demanding titles struggle to maintain this pace--and the possibility of other games being upgraded to offer a smooth 60fps mode is also possible--especially when the rumored PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution enters the scene (more on that below).
Sony is also reportedly asking game developers to take advantage of the new hardware boosts and create an exclusive graphics mode for their games when running on the PS5 Pro. Games offering this mode will apparently have the PS5 Pro "Enhanced" label, but the label will still be available for some games that run at 30fps. Reportedly, as long as games with a fixed resolution on PS5 increase their target resolution, the developers behind them will still be allowed to use the label.
Games that only run at a more stable frame rate on PS5 Pro and use a variable resolution without improving their maximum resolution are said to be ineligible to use the label. That said, until an official announcement is made, all of these details are subject to change.
The last couple of years have seen huge leaps in PC gaming, as Nvidia's DLSS and AMD's FSR have pushed graphics cards to new heights. Essentially, this gives owners of high-end GPUs more visual bang for their buck thanks to graphical upscaling and anti-aliasing technology that stabilizes frame rates without sacrificing fidelity, and Sony is said to be looking to introduce its own take on that idea in the form of PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution. In documents acquired by Insider Gaming, it's claimed that Sony is internally aiming to deliver 4K 120fps and 8K 60fps gaming experiences using PSSR for future console generations.
On the PS5 Pro, hardware limitations make it currently unrealistic to reach those targets, but the console will reportedly use PSSR to initially reach a 4K resolution with games. According to the apparently leaked documents, Sony managed to reach 60fps with an unnamed game while implementing ray tracing, and in a second experiment, a game ran at 1440p and 60fps in Fidelity Mode. The exact nature of a given game make these targets difficult to evaluate in a vacuum, though.
Similar to the PS4 Pro, we're expecting the PS5 Pro to play all of the same games available on the PS5 console, but with enhanced features and better performance overall.
It's safe to assume that the PS5 Pro won't deviate from the current aesthetics of the PS5 and its slimmer revision. Sony currently offers a digital-only and disc-drive version of the PS5, and it's likely that Sony would repeat this strategy so that it doesn't alienate fans of physical media.
Consoles equipped with more-powerful hardware have typically had a higher price tag, and Sony could easily justify an increased MSRP with the "Pro" tag. For reference, the current PS5 model with a disc drive retails for $500 in the US, while its slimmer all-digital sibling is priced at $450 and can be upgraded to accept discs with an add-on disc drive.
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PS5 Pro rumored release date
Current reports suggest that Sony will launch the PS5 Pro in the second half of the year, specifically toward the end of 2024 and during the potentially lucrative holiday season. The PS5 generation may be nearing the finish line, and while that'll still be a couple years from now, Sony's senior vice president Naomi Matsuoka is aiming to find the right balance between "profitability and sales" as PS5 hardware sales start decreasing. "Looking ahead, PS5 will enter the latter stage of its life cycle. As such, we will put more emphasis on the balance between profitability and sales," Matsuoka said in February. More recently, Sony acknowledge that PS5 sales growth is likely over.
If history repeats itself, a PS5 Pro launching toward the golden years of the PS5 isn't unlikely, as the new hardware could help reinvigorate PlayStation sales.
Leaked PS5 Pro specs
According to leaks, the PS5 Pro specs include a "High CPU Frequency Mode" that reportedly increases the PS5 CPU by 10% to 3.85Ghz. There's a new GPU that is said to be capable of up to 45% faster rendering and dramatically improves ray-tracing effects. Digital Foundry has also corroborated these claims and it posted a list of the reported the PS5 Pro specs back in March:
| PS5 | PS5 Pro | |
| CPU Architecture/ Clock Speeds | Eight core/16 Thread Zen 2 at 3.5GHz | Eight core/16 Thread Zen 2 at 3.5GHz/3.85GHz |
| GPU Compute Units/ Architecture | 36 CUS, RDNA 2 | 60 CUs, RNDA 3 (TBC) |
| TFLOPs/GPU Clock Speed | 10.23TF/ 2.23GHz | 33.5TF/ 2.18GHz (TBC) |
| GDDR6 Memory | 16GB at 14Gbps | 16GB at 18Gbps |
| Memory Available For Games | 12.5GB | 13.7GB |
| Memory Interface/ Bandwidth | 256-bit/448GB/s | 256-bit/576GB/s |
Will PS5 Pro be a big upgrade?
So what kind of performance upgrade can potential PS5 Pro users expect? The big takeaway here is that the experience will be similar to what the PS4 Pro offered its adopters, as the PS5 Pro is said to make existing games look and perform better. As Digital Foundry noted, users can expect games running at 30fps to be more stable--several demanding titles struggle to maintain this pace--and the possibility of other games being upgraded to offer a smooth 60fps mode is also possible--especially when the rumored PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution enters the scene (more on that below).
Sony is also reportedly asking game developers to take advantage of the new hardware boosts and create an exclusive graphics mode for their games when running on the PS5 Pro. Games offering this mode will apparently have the PS5 Pro "Enhanced" label, but the label will still be available for some games that run at 30fps. Reportedly, as long as games with a fixed resolution on PS5 increase their target resolution, the developers behind them will still be allowed to use the label.
Games that only run at a more stable frame rate on PS5 Pro and use a variable resolution without improving their maximum resolution are said to be ineligible to use the label. That said, until an official announcement is made, all of these details are subject to change.
What is PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution?
The last couple of years have seen huge leaps in PC gaming, as Nvidia's DLSS and AMD's FSR have pushed graphics cards to new heights. Essentially, this gives owners of high-end GPUs more visual bang for their buck thanks to graphical upscaling and anti-aliasing technology that stabilizes frame rates without sacrificing fidelity, and Sony is said to be looking to introduce its own take on that idea in the form of PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution. In documents acquired by Insider Gaming, it's claimed that Sony is internally aiming to deliver 4K 120fps and 8K 60fps gaming experiences using PSSR for future console generations.
On the PS5 Pro, hardware limitations make it currently unrealistic to reach those targets, but the console will reportedly use PSSR to initially reach a 4K resolution with games. According to the apparently leaked documents, Sony managed to reach 60fps with an unnamed game while implementing ray tracing, and in a second experiment, a game ran at 1440p and 60fps in Fidelity Mode. The exact nature of a given game make these targets difficult to evaluate in a vacuum, though.
PS5 Pro games and backward compatiblity
Similar to the PS4 Pro, we're expecting the PS5 Pro to play all of the same games available on the PS5 console, but with enhanced features and better performance overall.
What will the PS5 Pro look like?
It's safe to assume that the PS5 Pro won't deviate from the current aesthetics of the PS5 and its slimmer revision. Sony currently offers a digital-only and disc-drive version of the PS5, and it's likely that Sony would repeat this strategy so that it doesn't alienate fans of physical media.
Will the PS5 Pro's price be higher?
Consoles equipped with more-powerful hardware have typically had a higher price tag, and Sony could easily justify an increased MSRP with the "Pro" tag. For reference, the current PS5 model with a disc drive retails for $500 in the US, while its slimmer all-digital sibling is priced at $450 and can be upgraded to accept discs with an add-on disc drive.
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