While Sony has remained quiet on the subject, some believe a PS5 Pro could be released as soon as late 2024.
As of December 2023, more than 50 million PlayStation 5 consoles have been sold (per The Verge), and Sony could opt to boost these numbers even more amid rumors of a mid-generation hardware refresh.
Mid-way through the uber-successful life of the PlayStation 4, the Japanese tech giant offered customers a Pro version of its console for the first time. This gave gamers the option to pick up a new PS4 that could boast hardware innovations like 4K and HDR that the base PS4 was simply incapable of.
When Will the PS5 Pro Be Released?
No official information has yet been made public about a PlayStation 5 Pro, but the rumor machine is ablaze with speculation about the new PS5.
Some have wondered if the PS5 Pro refresh will even happen at all, as Sony unveiled a new line of slim consoles in fall 2023; however, insiders believe a Pro is coming - it is just a matter of when.
According to Insider Gaming's Tom Henderson, Sony's new slim consoles are "just the beginning of new hardware" for the PS5 generation, potentially alluding to the existence of a Pro:
“just the beginning of new hardware coming to PlayStation users this generation.”
In another report, Henderson wrote, a PS5 Pro is "100%" in development, and is expected to be released sometime in Q4 2024.
Following this up, Henderson specified on Key of Gaming (via Tom's Guide), "The PlayStation 5 Pro is in development and is targeting a November 2024 release date:"
"Whether or not a PlayStation 5 Pro console is desired enough in the current market remains to be seen, but as of writing, the PlayStation 5 Pro is in development and is targeting a November 2024 release date."
Insider Jeff Grubb countered these November 2024 rumors for a PS5 Pro release, revealing on the Games Mess podcast, that he had heard the hardware refresh was primed for a September 2024 launch.
Development kits for the Pro line of consoles have reportedly made their way out to game makers and demos for dev teams seemingly started happening last fall, lending further credence to this late 2024 window.
The PS5 Pro is reportedly called Project Trinity, following in the footsteps of Matrix-themed codenames for the PSVR (Project Morpheus) and the PS4 Pro (Project Neo).
If the PlayStation 5 Pro is, in fact, coming by the end of 2024, fans should expect an official unveiling of the console sometime a few months before that.
Tom Henderson - in a post on his X (formerly Twitter) page - quelled concerns Sony may announce the console too early, by showing it off at the CES convention in early January, telling gamers "I'd be surprised if they were to announce a new console 9-10 months from release" and an official announcement will likely come in "late Q3:"
"It seems like everyone is hyped that the PS5 Pro might be announced at CES. Personally, I'd be surprised if they were to announce a new console 9-10 months from release if that's the timeline they are still going with. So I'm more inclined to believe a late Q3 announcement."
Of course, CES has come and gone without any word on a PS5 Pro, so, Henderson could be on to something.
For its big fall hardware launches, Sony has traditionally opted to publicly unveil their new consoles sometime around what used to be the E3 video game conference (mid-June).
Since Sony left E3 in 2019 (and the convention has since died), PlayStation has still kept that similar timing for a showcase of some sort.
So, if a PS5 Pro is coming this year, fans should expect to first hear about it at some sort of PlayStation event between early June and mid-to-late July.
How Much Will the PS5 Pro Cost?
Since the console has yet to be officially announced, there have been no pricing details made public as of yet for the hardware.
Originally the PS4 Pro (Sony's first stab at a mid-generation console refresh) launched at $399 back in 2016. This was $100 more than the base PS4 at the time of release.
So, fans should expect a similar difference in price between the base PS5 and the PS5 Pro.
Currently, the slim diskless PS5 is $449 and the disk-based version of the console is $499 (via PlayStation Direct).
If Sony were to do a small price drop to the base PS5 line, moving the diskless version down to $399 and the disk-based SKU to $449, then a PS5 Pro $100 more than that top-end price seems likely.
This would put the PS5 Pro price point somewhere around $549.99.
What PS5 Pro Features To Expect
According to leaks, the PS5 Pro is going to be a beefy upgrade from its 2020-released baby brother.
Insider Tom Henderson - posting on Key to Gaming - revealed he had heard the new console will "be targeting improved and consistent FPS at 4K resolution" as well as "a new ‘performance mode’ for 8K resolution, and accelerated ray tracing:"
"As for the consoles performance targets and as to be expected, the PlayStation 5 Pro will be targeting improved and consistent FPS at 4K resolution, a new ‘performance mode’ for 8K resolution, and accelerated ray tracing."
While the base PS5 has largely left gamers picking between stable framerates or 4K output, the PS5 Pro will seemingly look to do away with that, offering buttery smooth gameplay while getting the high fidelity textures in 4K.
In a post on ResetEra by user RandomlyRandom67, the Pro line of PS5s will sport "accelerated ray tracing" technology, allowing for detailed ray-traced shadows (a feature that the base PS5 can largely only accomplish in fidelity mode at 30 FPS).
Giant Bomb's Jeff Grubb corroborated these rumors, telling fans on his Games Mess Decides show that the leaks are "almost certainly real," as Sony hopes the console will be able to "run things at a really high resolution and a really high framerate" (via Game Rant).
This tech will reportedly be largely possible thanks to a new next-generation GPU from AMD (the AMD RDNA 3), a step up from the base PS4's AMD RDNA 2 (per Video Cardz).
Also, thanks to even faster memory and CPU clocking speeds, the already shockingly low load times of the PS5 will shrink even more, allowing games to boot near-instantly.
These faster memory speeds could also potentially be used by the PS5 Pro to mimic a feature already present on the Xbox Series X/S known as 'Quick Resume,' where the console allows for multiple games to be suspended at once. This means the user can jump from game to game, booting directly into where they were as opposed to opening up into the traditional start screen.
The PlayStation 5 Pro is currently expected to release sometime this fall.
