PlayStation 5 Pro Unveiled With A Huge Lift In Performance And Ray Tracing
The announcement of the PS5 Pro comes on the heels of Sony facing a bit of embarrassment surrounding its failed first-person hero shooter, Concord. The is announcedment, however, will likely shift consumer and media attention to something more positive thanks to the PS5 Pro's upgrades and improvements.
In a press release, CEO Hideaki Nishino remarked, “Over the last four years since the launch of the PS5, we’ve worked hard to continuously evolve the console experience and deliver the great games our players expect from us.” He continued, “Today, I’m incredibly proud to announce the next step in that evolution and welcome PlayStation 5 Pro to the PlayStation family - our most advanced and innovative console hardware to date.”
Sony claims the PS5 Pro will offer higher fidelity graphics with smoother frame rates, through several key enhancements. Those include: An upgraded GPU that has 67% more Compute Units than the current PS5 console and 28% faster memory. Advanced Ray Tracing support that provides more dynamic reflections and lighting. AI-driven upscaling, referred to as PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution, which uses a machine learning to provide sharper upscaled images with greater detail that generic upscaling solutions.
The company also announced several games will be patched with free software upgrades to take advantage of PS5 Pro’s features. Games include: Alan Wake 2, Assassin’s Creed: Shadows, Demon’s Souls, Dragon’s Dogma 2, Gran Turismo 7, among others.
As for the aesthetics of the console, not much has changed. PlayStation fans may have noticed the PS5 Pro is the same height as the original, and its width is the same size as the current PS5 model, which Sony says is to accomodate the higher performance hardware. The company added that players will be able to add an Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc Drive, or swap out console covers when they become available.
The PS5 Pro will launch on November 7, 2024, and will cost $699.99. It will include a 2TB SSD, a DualSense wireless controller, and a copy of Astro’s Playroom pre-installed. It is important to note the PS5 Pro is a disc-less console, with the option to purchase the currently available PS5 Disc Drive separately.
