After releasing a PlayStation 5 Slim in 2023, Sony could very well announce and release a PlayStation 5 Pro in 2024. Release date, performance, price: should you believe the rumors?
Since its very first console, Sony has always had a habit of changing the design and features of its PlayStations over the generations. For the PlayStation 4, the brand has even opted for a “Pro” model that is more powerful than the original model.
Sony could definitely try the adventure again in 2024 with a PlayStation 5 Pro.
The PS5 Slim supports the theory of a PS5 Pro
To understand why it's likely that Sony will launch a PlayStation 5 Pro in 2024, we need to look at the marketing of the PS5 Slim. In 2022, Tom Henderson reveals on his Insider Gaming page that Sony is preparing a new PS5 console model.
This new model will be smaller than the PS5 2020 and offer an optional and removable Blu-ray drive. In this article, Tom Henderson actually predicts the PlayStation 5 Slim console that Sony introduced and then marketed at the end of 2023.
It was also Tom Henderson who released the first information about Project Q and the Project Nomad headphones. A few months later, these became the PlayStation Portal and PlayStation Pulse Explore headphones.
In other words, the same person whose sources were apparently right about Sony's last three hardware launches to date is now promising the arrival of a PlayStation 5 Pro in 2024. There's reason to be confident.
The features of the PS5 Pro
AMD, which supplies the chips for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, continues to work to offer increasingly powerful components. Since the Zen 2/RDNA 2 chip currently in gaming consoles, AMD has released two generations of CPU architectures (Zen 3 and Zen 4) and one generation of GPUs (RDNA 3). We can therefore ask ourselves when consoles will be able to benefit from these new features.
A job listing published by AMD as of May 2022 suggests that development of next-generation SoCs for consoles is well underway.
When would the PS5 Pro be released?
The Insider Gaming site confirmed on March 14, 2023 that Sony would launch a PS5 Pro in late 2024.
What would the design of the PS5 Pro look like?
This name suggests that it is a new PlayStation 5 console that is more efficient than previous models. The site particularly points out that this model could be entitled to liquid cooling, i.e. water cooling. This type of cooling is already used in desktop PCs, but has never been seen in a device sold in such large quantities as a gaming console.
At what price?
At what price could Sony market this PlayStation 5 Pro? There is no retail price listed for the item. If Sony does not change the price of the PlayStation 5, we can imagine a PlayStation 5 Pro whose price would rise to at least 600 or 650 euros in France. A price that is rarely achieved for a gaming console in our market. This would mean that the manufacturer would even exceed the psychological limit of 600 euros, which had done so much damage to the PS3 when it was launched.
Another option would be for Sony to price its PlayStation 5 Pro at 550 euros, the price of the current slim version. The manufacturer could then reduce the price of its console to achieve a reach effect and be even more competitive with Nintendo and Xbox.
What would be the features of the PS5 Pro?
Here are the features of the PS5 Pro according to Tom Henderson.
- Codename: Trinity
- GPU with 30 WGP (RDNA WorkGroup, the equivalent of 60 CUs or a Radeon 7800 XT)
- GDDR6 18000 MT memory
- an 8K performance mode
- improved ray tracing
In December 2023, an anonymous user on the Resetera forum claims to reveal new information about the PS5 Pro. Tom Henderson says cannot confirm this rumor, but points out that Sony would distribute the PS5 Pro development kit to third-party studios and the company would therefore expect such leaks.
Here's what the anonymous user says, which should be taken with caution at this point as it's impossible to give it any credibility even if the information seems coherent.
- AMD Viola chip manufactured using the TSMC N4P process
- The processor would be the same AMD Zen 2 to ensure compatibility with PS5 games
- The GPU would only have 28 functional WGPs (3584 shaders, 224 TMU, 96 ROP).
- 16GB GDDR6 with 18Gbps, 256-bit memory bus and 576GB/s bandwidth
- The codename Trinity would be a reference to improved storage, ray tracing and upscaling
- Architecture would be RDNA 3 with improvements planned for RDNA 4
- With ray tracing, performance would double
- The rasterization performance (without ray tracing) would be 50 to 60% compared to the PS5 (Oberon chip).
- The presentation of the console would be planned for September 2024
Again, we'll have to wait for leaks from more reputable sources to get an idea of the performance we can expect from this possible PS5 Pro.
PlayStation 5 Pro: reasons to doubt
Sony has not yet given any indication of the launch of a possible new gaming console, and certainly not a model that would be more efficient.
There are good reasons to doubt the launch of a PS5 Pro. What use would such a console actually be to Sony in today's market? Instead, the giant is trying to sell as much of the PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Digital Edition as possible.
Adding a PlayStation 5 Pro to the catalog would again amount to cutting the installed base while it is still being created and would further complicate the work of developers. The latter can simply do without the PlayStation 4 and thus make optimal use of the possibilities of the PlayStation 5.
Do you want a PS5 Pro?
Above all, the PlayStation 5 Pro would not meet any demands today. Sony's current console, like Microsoft's, allows games to run in 4K thanks to a dynamic image definition system, usually with a 60 FPS mode. The PlayStation 4 Pro was launched because the installed base of 4K displays was growing rapidly. The same cannot be said for 8K TVs. Would an improvement in ray tracing or performance be enough to motivate developers to rework their copies and consumers to upgrade to a premium model?
What is Sony's strategy?
Even though the company offers its games on the PC, Sony is primarily relying on the success of its PlayStation 5. The manufacturer has created an entire ecosystem around its console with headphones, controllers, a PS VR 2 and even an attractive PlayStation Portal. The goal each time is to develop satellite products around the PlayStation 5. The introduction of a PS5 would almost rival this philosophy.
Microsoft, for its part, is expected to launch a new version of its Xbox Series X in 2024 without changing the computing power. We know this thanks to very precise leaks about Microsoft's strategy for the coming years. In contrast to the Xbox One X and PS4 Pro generations, Sony would be the only manufacturer to bring a more powerful version of its console onto the market. Therefore, additional efforts must be made to convince developers to adapt their games for free.
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