It looks like 2024 could be a big year for PlayStation fans, as Sony gets ready to release a brand new console. Tipped to launch towards the end of the year, the PS5 Pro is said to be a more powerful version of the PlayStation 5. New leaks have given fans a taste of what to expect from the console, which will reportedly give PS5 games a major boost in both performance and visuals. Indeed, according to the latest reports, the PS5 Pro will offer greater ray-tracing support, and without sacrificing performance. In a nutshell, ray-tracing is a graphical feature that makes lighting and shadows appear more realistic. It’s something that was promised with the launch of the PS5, but has never really reached its full potential – unless you’re willing to play games at a lower frame-rate, of course. While the PS5 Pro looks like it will remedy this problem, PlayStation fans will be forced to pay big money in order to reap the benefits.
With the current PS5 console selling for £479.99, the PS5 Pro is likely to cost more than £500 at launch.
Even if you sell your existing PlayStation 5 console on eBay or CEX, you’re still going to have to pay an additional £300 or so to secure an upgrade.
Then there are the potential stock shortages, which could see prices go through the roof on the second-hand market.
Still, judging by the list of PS5 Pro specs obtained by The Verge, the new and improved PlayStation console could be worth the extra cash.
According to the Sony documents, the PS5 Pro should perform about 45% faster than the current model. The larger GPU will reportedly use faster system memory to improve ray-tracing by up to three times.
The PS5 Pro CPU will be the same as the current model, but will have a mode that can increase performance by around 10%.
“Trinity has a mode that targets 3.85GHz CPU frequency,” reads a report on The Verge. “Sony will offer developers the ability to pick between a ‘standard mode’ at 3.5GHz or the ‘high CPU frequency mode’ at 3.85GHz.”
Finally, developers will have access to more system memory with the PS5 Pro, which should make it easier to improve resolutions and increase frame-rates.
Games that deliver significant improvements will reportedly ship with a PS5 Pro Enhanced tag to make it easier for the customer to identify titles that utilise the console’s superior architecture.
