Are you disappointed that Nintendo may not release the Switch 2 in 2024? Well, Sony may have something to bandage your bleeding heart. The PlayStation 5 Pro, rumored as “Project Viola,” may be looking for space in consumer’s carts sometime later this year. Just as past upgraded PlayStation models of past console generations beefed up specs while keeping the same basic infrastructure, Sony seems to be looking for some moderate upgrades for its already expensive mainline gaming console.
There’s certainly precedent for a new, more powerful PS5. For context, Sony released a “Pro” version of its PlayStation 4 in 2016–three years after the original PS4 debut–with a better graphics processor and CPU clock speeds. This was in addition to the “Slim” version of the PS4, which had a smaller, lighter chassis. Last year, Sony released a slimmer version of the PS5 that also cut down on overall weight and footprint. In effect, the slim version has replaced the older version of the PS5.
We should also note that Microsoft and Xbox have hinted they are also looking at new hardware, with Xbox President Sarah Bond saying they want to establish “the largest technical leap you’ve ever seen in a hardware generation.” Now, take that for what you will, but by our estimation, it would seem a little early to release a new sequel to the Xbox Series X, which first debuted in 2020. Some have taken this to mean Xbox could release its handheld console, whether that’s some kind of streaming device akin to a Logitech G Cloud or a full-fledged Steam Deck-like.
Considering how much emphasis Xbox places on Game Pass and moving its first-party titles onto other platforms, it seems whatever Microsoft is cooking up will be a big surprise.
PlayStation 5 Pro Expected Release and Price
Games industry analysts and rumormongers all support that a new PlayStation 5 “Pro” model should hit store shelves this year. Games industry analyst Serkan Toto told CNBCthere is “broad consensus” that Sony is preparing a PS5 Pro launch slated for the second half 2025. This is apparently to get ahead of the expected megahit Grand Theft Auto VI, which should be coming sometime in 2025. Of course, that’s only if the game doesn’t hit any delays that push it even further back in time.
Omdia analyst George Jijiashvili told CNBC he suspects Sony won’t cut the price of the regular PlayStation 5, which currently goes for $US500 MSRP with the attached disc drive. That will mean the PS5 Pro will be a more expensive device. How much? We don’t have many rumors to point to the new console’s price, but the original PS4 dropped in price first before Sony announced the mid-generation console refresh. At the time, the base PS4 cost $US350 in the U.S., while the PS4 Pro, with its upgraded CPU and support for 4K, went for $US400. That was the same price as the original PS4 when Sony released it in 2013.
It’s been a strange time for Sony as far as PlayStation 5 sales go. The console sold better than any other PlayStation console in Japan since 2004 with the PS2. Data also shows it was outselling Xbox by large margins, but none of that seems good enough for the Japanese tech giant. In its latest quarterly earnings call, company execs said the PS5 is entering “the latter stage of its life cycle.” They expect sales to fall for the next year, especially as the company doesn’t have any major new titles from its mainline franchises in store for the rest of the year.
The analysts point to a latter half of the 2024 announcement, and previous rumors have also suspected that Sony will reveal the Pro model sometime in September, with a supposed November release.
PlayStation 5 Pro Expected Specs and Design
Some rumors suggest that the PlayStation 5 Pro won’t have too many changes to distinguish it from the PS5. Sony has supposedly released dev kits for the newer console, and anonymous posters have claimed the PS5 refresh will still use the AMD Zen2 CPU but with updated clock speeds up to 4.4 GHz. With added ray tracing support, the APU will see a bigger shift to the AMD RDNA3 architecture. Finally, the rumors say the PS5 will still have 15GB of RAM, though it will get speed boosts up to 18 Gbps.
Sony might also be jumping on the AI bandwagon with an AI upscaling akin to Intel’s XeSS or Nvidia’s DLSS. The new console could access AMD’s XDNA2 AI core, a neural processor that could improve performance across PlayStation’s lineup. If true, then new and past titles may need to receive updates supporting AI upscaling. Currently, a limited number of titles support Intel and Nvidia’s upscaling tech.
If you look back at the PS4 Slim and Pro models, the beefier design was also a bigger console by a pretty significant margin. It sported an additional third shelf compared to the Slim console’s two. It made the more expensive console a little more than .5 inches thicker and about an inch wider and longer than the cheaper PS4. If a new PS5 maintains the same overall design as the newer, slimmer model, it might also be slightly bigger for a console that cuts down quite a bit on overall size and weight.
It could be enough to support higher frame rates or refresh rates at 4K, which would be a nice improvement for folks who want to game on displays that support more than the base 120 Hz at 4K currently supported by the PS5 and Xbox Series X.
But what will this do to the overall size of the PlayStation 5? The current design with the large whale fins already makes it awkward to lay it flat. The current Slim model requires a special stand sold separately for $US30 to remain upright without toppling. A newer model that increases the size might need another separate stand, again requiring buyers to shell out more for an already expensive console.
Then again, we already know the PS5 can scale down very well. A DIYer recently transformed his PS5 into a mobile console with a built-in screen with little to no issue in heat transfer. It took a fair bit of ingenuity to scale the console down to such a thin design, but who’s to say some of the engineers at Sony haven’t watched that video and tried their own hands at scaling everything down?