PlayStation 5 Pro Comparison: How is it different from the regular PS5?

After various rumors and leaks, the PlayStation 5 Pro is finally official — with a new GPU, a $700 price tag, and no built-in disc drive. But is that all? What makes this new console 40 percent more expensive than the existing PS5, which you can buy today for $500? The same one that will surely go on sale during the holiday season, shortly after the Pro’s launch on November 7.

What are the differences between the PS5 and PS5 Pro that make it (depending on who you ask) a worthwhile upgrade or an unnecessary expense?

PS5 Pro has three primary performance improvements over the standard PS5, according to Sony’s tech presentation announcement, led by PS5 lead architect Mark Cerny. It has a new, more powerful GPU for more processing power and faster rendering; advanced ray tracing for improved in-game reflections and more immersive lighting; and a new PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR) upscaler to keep frame rates high without sacrificing resolution and image quality.

The GPU is the real star of the show, as Sony says it’s promising 67 percent more compute units and 28 percent faster memory, which will translate to 45 percent faster rendering. However, the PS5 Pro’s CPU and storage speeds remain unchanged, so while it should deliver 4K resolution, AND If you maintain 60 fps or higher, there is a possibility that your console will not be able to load or launch games any faster.

The biggest change for current PS5 owners is that playing on PS5 Pro will no longer require you to choose between performance and fidelity modes (a decision that many current games force users to make in order to prioritize smooth frame rates Or (clearer images). But Sony could just move those goalposts with the PS5 Pro, since the upcoming console will also support 8K gaming. It’s possible those performance and fidelity modes will still be with us, if playing games in 8K means sacrificing frame rates once again — which it almost certainly will. The difference is that most people won’t care, because who the hell has an 8K TV these days?

As for ray tracing, it’s a feature that’s been supported on PS5 since launch. But PS5 Pro advanced ray tracing promises to improve this, with more dynamic reflections and refractions. Basically, games with nice lighting and lots of reflections should look a bit nicer (rejoice, Gran Turismo 7 fans). So far, ray tracing on the current PS5 has been a bit lackluster compared to what’s possible on PCs with high-end GPUs (which, to be fair, cost more than the PS5 Pro). But that’s more a matter of the games themselves than the console. Many titles aren’t optimized for ray tracing on console, though there were some standout PS5 titles like Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 that have good ray tracing performance. The PS5 Pro should simply make them look better without sacrificing frame rate.

The PSSR AI-driven upscaler is the most technical software trick of the PS5 Pro features. It’s very similar to Nvidia’s popular DLSS feature on PC, and is a post-processing resource that helps achieve higher frame rates at high resolutions. The standard PS5 uses more conventional anti-aliasing, while the PS5 Pro will use machine learning to scale things based on what’s actively being rendered on screen. It’s one of those things that works in the background to tidy up the finer details.

Another way the PS5 Pro should be more powerful than the current PS5 is by supporting Wi-Fi 7 (the PS5 has Wi-Fi 6 and never switched to 6E when the Slim came out). This could be helpful for downloading large games to the Pro’s internal 2TB SSD at faster speeds, but only if your home network supports Wi-Fi 7 — which most people haven’t adopted yet due to the costs involved. It’s worth noting that this feature won’t help with Remote Play in the PlayStation Portal, as Sony’s one-trick portable streaming console trick pony is surprisingly limited to Wi-Fi 5.

Aside from the new GPU and the reworked cooling system it will require, the biggest physical differences in the PS5 Pro are its design and lack of a disc drive. The Pro will be as tall and long as the original PS5, but with the svelteness of a revamped Slim model. It has a new ribbed design element on the side cutouts on the removable plates (which Sony will later sell as customizable replacements). Personally, I still think it’s a bit ugly, and I’m afraid Sony’s refusal to show the front of the console in landscape mode means it’s planning another weird trick to let it rest on its side. The Slim uses silly-looking little pizza-stand feet to keep it balanced. I wouldn’t want the more expensive Pro to do the same.

The lack of a disk drive can be fixed by purchasing the same $79.99 modular drive that Sony already sells for the PS5 slim. So instead of having the option to buy a PS5 Pro with or without a disk drive (a practice Sony started with the first PS5 at launch), you’re left with getting your own. It’s fair to think that a “pro” console would require all the bells and whistles, including physical storage that some die-hard fans might prefer, but that could just be the beginning of the digital future for the next generation of consoles. And at least the M.2 slot is being retained in the Pro to add even faster storage.

Another element of the ever-changing I/O on PS5 consoles is the USB ports, which continue their slow march toward near-complete USB-C on PS5 Pro. Here’s a quick breakdown of the USB ports on all three PlayStation 5 consoles since launch:

• PlayStation 5 (original): One USB-C and one USB-A on the front / Two USB-A on the back
• PS5 (slim): Two USB-C ports on the front / Two USB-A ports on the back
• PS5 Pro: Two USB-C ports on the front / One USB-C port and one USB-A port on the back

So you still have four USB ports in total on the PS5 Pro (thankfully), and most of them are USB-C. We don’t know how fast each one is on the Pro, but considering both the original PS5 and the Slim have three SuperSpeed ​​10Gbps ports and one slower port, it’s probably safe to assume the Pro will follow suit.

One thing that won’t change is the controllers. The PS5 Pro will ship with the same old white DualSense controller, complete with potentiometer-based analog sticks that can experience drift over time. The Pro would have been a good opportunity for the DualSense to switch to drift-free Hall-effect sticks, but there’s been no such luck.

This is the second generation of consoles to see a mid-cycle “Pro” model released, and while the PS4 Pro seemed to be generally well-received back in 2016, let’s not forget that it launched at the PS4’s original price of $400 with cheaper slim model. The market is completely different now, with the slim PS5 offering no price reduction whatsoever (aside from the occasional bundled game) and the PS5 Pro costing a steep $700 (or $780 with the additional disc drive).

The PS5 Pro seems to be mostly for PlayStation superfans who can just buy one at almost any price. But there are other people who are looking for something they can just turn on and play — without having to fiddle with controllers or deal with the setup and cost of a gaming PC. For those people, the PS5 Pro seems like a great option, even if the price might put them off at first.