Sony PS5 Pro announced: Specs, features, and prices

After months of leaks and rumors, the Sony PS5 Pro is finally official. With added computational prowess, the latest gaming machine from the Japanese home console maker is the next iteration is a technical powerhouse. Sony is set to launch it later this year when the Pro will be offered as a more premium alternative to the original 2020 device. It is being priced accordingly, with the mid-generation upgrade costing $699 in the US.

Let's review all the new features headed to the upcoming device.

---

What are the specs and features of the new Sony PS5 Pro?

The upcoming console features a larger GPU for higher gaming framerates (Image via Sony)

The PS5 Pro is designed for even better 4K gaming experiences than the original console. Unlike the PS4 Pro, it isn't a massive upgrade and only offers slightly improved experiences in ray tracing and upscaling technologies. Here's an overview of the changes:

1. Upgraded GPU: At the core of the new gaming machine is an upgraded graphics chip. The new PS5 Pro is based on AMD hardware with a similar CPU. However, the GPU now packs 67% extra Compute Units, making it fierce at rasterization workloads. Moreover, the memory speed has been upgraded by 28%, which should make demanding games snappier at loading high-resolution textures. Sony claims the beefed graphics hardware should directly translate to a 40% faster image rendering capability, making the PS5 Pro a powerhouse for 4K gaming.
2. Added ray tracing capabilities: Ray tracing capabilities of the original PS5 were quite limited. With the upcoming console, Sony is adding extra hardware specifically designed to handle this workload. The highlighted capabilities include dynamic reflection and refraction of light. In Gran Turismo 7, car-to-car reflections were showcased in the live demo, which underscores the added rendering capabilities of the machine. Sony claims that the mid-cycle refresh can handle ray tracing at 2-3x speeds as compared to the PlayStation 5.
3. Upscaling technologies: With the PS5 Pro, upscaling will be baked into the gaming console. Sony calls it the PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR), which leverages AI technologies and upscaling to intelligently predict high-resolution images and even complete frames to deliver higher framerates in video games. This could be used to maintain 4K 60 FPS experiences while adding extra detail in not-so-demanding games.

While Sony didn't outline a specs list in the announcement today, here's a previously confirmed one:

	Sony PlayStation 5 Pro
GPU manufacturing process node	6 nm
GPU architecture	RDNA 3 with 30 WGP
Theoretical GPU rendering speed	33.5 TeraFLOPS
GPU memory bandwidth	576 GB/s
# CPU cores	8
CPU clock speed	3.85 GHz
AI accelerator	300x 8-bit INT8 TOPS and 67 16-bit FP16 TeraFLOPS

Overall, the Pro-grade machine would augment the already capable PlayStation 5 with improved rendering and AI upscaling capabilities. It's designed to complement the existing console with a premium tier instead of aiming to replace it.

---

What are the prices of the PS5 Pro?

The prices of the Pro-grade console in various regions (Image via Sony)

Given the added features of the new PS5 Pro, it's only natural the prices of the machine are going up. Sony asks for a steep $699.99 for the console in the US. Fans in the UK will have to pay £699.99, with the price tag for those in the EU being €799.99. In Japan, the price of the console is set to be ¥119,980 with taxes. The device is set to be available starting November 7, 2024.