Sony PlayStation 5 Pro: Announced with upgraded GPU and improved graphics – How much does it cost?

OR Sony announced its most powerful game console, the PlayStation 5 Prowhich is an updated model of the PlayStation 5 released in 2020.

The PS5 Pro is all about improving the graphical fidelity of its games, with three key new upgrades.

The first is an upgraded GPU. While still based on the same architecture, the PS5 Pro’s GPU now has 67% more compute units and 28% faster memory. Sony claims these changes provide 45% faster rendering performance compared to the PS5.

The other improvement is accelerated ray tracing. Considering that AMD graphics rely on their compute units for ray tracing, increasing the number of compute units also increases ray tracing performance.

Finally, Sony also announced a new AI-based image enhancement technology that it developed in-house. Called PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution, it uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to sample images at a higher resolution.

PlayStation lead architect Mark Cerny talked about the ability to switch performance and quality in PS5 games, which allows the user to choose between high frame rates or image quality. This resulted in users opting for performance mode for better frame rates, compromising image quality.

The goal of the PS5 Pro, it seems, was to make this switch unnecessary and provide both the desired image quality and high frame rates.

Sony also introduced some of its own and third-party titles that take advantage of the improved performance of the new console. Games optimized for the new console will have a PS5 Pro Enhanced tag inside.

Sony also announced a new PS5 Pro Game Boost feature, which can be applied to more than 8500 PS4 titles and boost the resolution and frame rate for the new console. The new console also features Wi-Fi 7 where supported, as well as support for VRR and 8K displays.

The PS5 Pro features only minor visual changes from the standard PS5. It’s taller than the current slim model, but the same thickness as the PS5 model without a Blu-ray disc. The PS5 Pro does not have a disc drive model and users will have to purchase it separately (the detachable Blu-ray drive costs €119.99). It also includes 2TB of internal storage compared to 1TB in the standard model.

The PS5 Pro will cost €799.99 in Europe, with a DualSense controller and a copy of Astro’s Playroom pre-installed. The vertical stand will be sold separately, as will the Vertical Stand (€29.99).

The console will be released later this year on November 7th, with pre-orders starting on September 26th.