The recent announcement from Sony Interactive Entertainment about the upcoming PS5 Pro, due for release on 7th November 2024 (priced at $699.99 USD, £699.99 GBP, €799.99 EUR, and ¥119,980 JPY) hasn’t had quite the positive response from the gaming community that Sony expected. Despite having support from many in the industry and some gamers, a lot have taken to social media to air their grievances over the latest incarnation of the PS5. But are these complaints justified and is there really a need for an upgraded version of the PS5?
PS5 Pro – Under The Hood
Before looking at the concerns and comments, the first thing to do is look at the PS5 Pro itself. There are a number of changes being made to the hardware but at the core – as with the PS4 Pro – performance is key. Sony’s official press release summarises the key upgrades, breaking them down as follows:
- Upgraded GPU with 67 percent more Compute Units than the current PS5 console and 28 percent faster memory. This enables up to 45 percent faster rendering for gameplay, making games run even faster.
- Advanced Ray Tracing that provides more dynamic reflection and refraction of light at more than double the speed of the current PS5 console.
- AI-Driven Upscaling with PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution, a machine learning-based technology that provides super sharp image clarity by adding an extraordinary amount of detail.
So from a gaming perspective, not only will games designed to use the PS5 Pro look and perform better, but the system has been designed to enhance existing titles using the PS5 Pro Game Boost feature in the same way the PS4 Pro did which will improve the performance of the existing library. PS5 owners will have already seen the benefits of this when running PS4 games so this is a welcome feature.
Other Upgrades
As well as the core gaming hardware, the PS5 Pro is seeing a few other key improvements including one that has been asked for since the launch of the system. First is an upgrade to the internal SSD storage to 2tb – essential with the ever increasing size of AAA titles. The second is an upgrade to the console’s wi-fi connectivity with the console now supporting Wi-Fi 7 as standard.
PlayStation Tradition
It must be said that those who have been quite vocal about the need for Sony to release a new version of the PS5 have forgotten that this isn’t anything new for Sony. Ever since the original PlayStation was released 30 years ago, we have seen revised and upgraded models of the consoles launched throughout each system’s lifespan. The original PlayStation went to the PSone, we had the slim version of the PS2, several iterations of the PS3 and even the handhelds weren’t exempt from changes.
With countless models of the PSP including the addition of the port for TV output and the infamous PSP Go which slashed the size of the available games library (making it the most controversial “upgrade”). Even the PS Vita has seen a makeover with the slimline model which traded the OLED screen for a more lightweight console offering longer battery life and internal storage (although that too had its problems).
But the reality is that we should have expected the PS5 Pro from day one, as we should have with the PS4 Pro. The only question should have been about the exact nature of each.
The Concerns
As I said at the start, fans have been complaining in their droves about the PS5 Pro. But just what exactly are the concerns people have and is there any validity to them?
Price
The most obvious one that is being quoted right now is the price tag of the console. Coming in at a hefty £699.99, its a lot more than the original PS5 even more so considering the fact that it now ships without an optical drive. However dismissing it because of this is a little unrealistic. When the PS3 was first released, this too had a high price point of £425 – and when adjusted for inflation that is exactly the same price as the PS5 Pro today. The reality is that the technology inside the PS3 was cutting edge at the time and it was actually the cheapest blu ray player on the market.
But when you break the price down of the PS5 Pro and look at the upgrade to the hardware itself, it’s not a huge expense. The increase in size for the SSD would be a significant expense alone doing this yourself (when I added a second 2tb SSD to my own it cost me around £150) and the reality is that the GPU market is still an expensive one to enter. Many sceptics have dismissed the PS5 Pro in favour of a gaming PC, but if you look at the price of high end graphics cards and how they rise in price, the PS5 Pro is still a very cheap system for what it offers.
Optical Drive
This is undeniably the biggest issue many have with the console. It has been criticised for not shipping with an optical drive but since day one the PS5 has come in two versions – one with and one without a disc drive. In fact, since the release of the PS5 Slim, production and design of the console changed to a more modular approach and every PS5 was built without an optical drive. These were all manufactured as separate add-ons and simply attached at the factory for the disc models. For anyone who owns a disc-based PS5 Slim, you will have noticed that it does a hardware check on initialisation to detect if a drive is there.
This is the same approach being taken with the PS5 Pro. It’s more cost effective and gives gamers more choice. With every PS5 game needing a hard drive installation, many do see the drive as being a redundant option unless you intend to sell/trade in unwanted games. My daughter seriously considered opting for a disc-less version of the PS5 Slim for that very reason and 90% of my own PS4 and PS5 games are digital. While we may all prefer physical for our collections, with games getting larger unless media follows suit digital may well be our only option.
Modular Design
As I touched upon just, Sony are taking a modular approach with the PS5 now to give it as much future-proofing as possible. Adding an external drive has been easy since day one for backup or PS4 game storage, and adding a second internal SSD takes minutes with no technical knowledge needed. Making optical drives optional not only gives gamers a choice but allows higher capacity drives to be used further down the line.
But this modular approach has also extended to one final issue people have had with the PS5 Pro… the lack of a vertical stand. Again, many have forgotten that it was only the original PS5 that came with a stand in the box. The PS5 Slim didn’t and only had a set of feet included to allow the console to be used horizontally. While it meant an extra expense, it allowed Sony to reduce the price of the console and left the stand as an option for those who actually needed it and not imposed it on everyone.
So again, making it optional now is the best approach to take. If you buy a brand new car, you’re usually given options when it comes to a number of features that you might want included – all of which come at an extra cost. If you don’t want any of these, why should you pay for them when you can bring the total cost down and save money? It’s just common sense.
Summary
At the end of the day, no matter what Sony did there will be people who won’t be happy. There has been talk of a PS5 Pro for well over a year and if they didn’t announce or release one there would have been complaints. Now they have announced it, gamers are still finding reasons to complain about every small detail about it. Ultimately, if you’re happy with your PS5 and the games you’re currently playing then stick with that but if you feel that you need the improved visual definition and framerate then it may well be for you.
If you feel tempted by PC gaming instead, remember that game specifications are always in a state of flux unlike console gaming. While high end gaming PCs are often more powerful, this comes at a price – both financial and at a sacrifice of stable compatability and the guarantee that anything released will work on what you own. If you buy a PS5 game you know it will run on your PS5 without having to check for specs, memory requirements, GPU details and so on. You can never know without checking with a PC game and for me, that’s more than a good enough reason to stick to console gaming.
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