Sony finally unveiled the PS5 Pro console after months of speculation online. After watching the entire 10-minute video below, I must say that I’m somewhat underwhelmed by what’s being offered here.
I’ve been a pretty big fan of PlayStation most of my life. I’ve owned almost every PlayStation console and peripheral that Sony has ever released, excluding the PSVR 2. However, they’ve made some questionable decisions in the past, like the pricing of the PlayStation 3 and the PSVR 2 mentioned above. The decision to focus only on graphical fidelity with the PS5 Pro and the astronomical price of $699 US is a tough pill for me to swallow.
Pricing
Outside of the PS3, the PS5 Pro will be Sony’s most expensive console ever, adjusting for inflation. It would be fine if it were full of features the regular PS5 doesn’t have, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. The PS3 had a disc drive that played CDs, DVDs, and Blu-rays, a card reader, and backward compatibility with all PlayStation games (at launch), and it was still ridiculed across the industry. The PS5 Pro doesn’t even have a disc drive. That’s an optional accessory that costs another $80 US. Sure, you can go all digital, which is another argument. If you have amassed a library of discs across PS5 AND PS4, you might not see it as optional. I would have to shell out $780 US right away to get everything I need to play the games I already own.
No New Games?
It might have been more palatable to accept this type of price if Sony had some new games to showcase. They didn’t even have a single new game to show off. Nothing at all. All we get to see in this presentation is how the frame rate can be increased without sacrificing the fidelity of the game’s graphics. More raw GPU power, AI upscaling, and better ray tracing. Those are great things in their own right, and I’m not dismissing them; however, no one asked for the games to look significantly better than they already do in this generation. I would love 4K120 for every game. It just seems like it should have been the target for every game in the next generation, not the mid-gen refresh. We will likely be looking at the next generation by around 2027.
Upgrades
The “big three”:
- Upgraded GPU: With PS5 Pro, we are upgrading to a GPU with 67% more Compute Units than the current PS5 console and 28% faster memory. Overall, this enables up to 45% faster rendering for gameplay, making the experience much smoother.
- Advanced Ray Tracing: We’ve added even more powerful ray tracing that provides more dynamic reflection and refraction of light. This allows the rays to be cast at double, and at times triple, the speeds of the current PS5 console.
- AI-Driven Upscaling: We’re also introducing PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution. This AI-driven upscaling uses a machine learning-based technology to provide super-sharp image clarity by adding an extraordinary amount of detail.
The PS5 has been on the market for nearly four years, and it has yet to receive a price drop. At the very least, I thought that Sony would drop the price of the older models with this announcement. They didn’t. There are plenty of people out there who don’t even have the money to spend on the base models of PS5, and they expect people to flock to this new device that doesn’t have any identifiable upgrades outside of Wi-Fi 7, a 2TB SSD, and the GPU enhancements. I think a revised slim model PS5, even with a $50 price reduction, would go a long way with consumers alongside this new powerhouse.
Design
I am happy with the design of this system. Although it may be larger, it retains the same aesthetic as the previous models. It’s also nice that, from what I understand, it will support the disc drive currently on the market. If purchasers already have one on an existing console, they can swap it into the new one. It does sound like the console covers will be slightly different since the console is a different size. The most baffling point I’ve seen is that the stand is sold separately, which is another big WTF moment for the console.
Final Thoughts
People used to complain about how expensive a PC is compared to consoles, but we’re getting into some dangerous territory with the PS5 Pro. Mid-range PCs aren’t much more costly than that, and I can see a section of gamers deciding to go that direction and call it a day. I’m not sure if I’ll grab one of these consoles. My PS5 is my console of choice, and the extra power would be a welcome addition. I’m not sure if I can afford to spend that much, or if I’d want to sell or trade my launch console to help subsidize the cost. I already have all the consoles and a PC, and I’m not sure if it would be worth it. I do not doubt that Mark Cerny and the team at PlayStation crafted something amazing, but it feels like a reach to command that type of price for a more powerful iteration of a console that debuted four years ago.
What do you think about this console? The price? Let us know in the comments!
