PS5 Pro pre-orders are about to go live in the UK
The high-spec console will be available to pre-order tomorrow
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After showing it off at games shows and developer conferences around the world, Sony decided it was go time for its latest console. On 10 September, Sony hosted what it called a “Technical Presentation”, finally pulling the lid off the heavily rumoured PlayStation 5 Pro.
Sony’s Mark Cerny, the console’s lead architect, called the PS5 Pro the “most powerful console ever produced” during the nine-minute presentation. It features an upgraded GPU, advanced ray tracing and AI-driven upscaling, making your games run smoother, look better and work harder than ever before.
At a PlayStation State of Play games showcase on Tuesday, developers also showed off how they were making use of the upgraded hardware to enhance their games, with games like Gran Turismo 7 gaining experimental support for 8K/60fps output.
It’s not the only new machine launching this November. Last week, Sony announced it would release a PS5 Pro 30th anniversary edition, alongside a greyscale PS5 Slim and PlayStation Portal, paying homage to the PlayStation 1. Both the PS5 Pro and the 30th-anniversary edition consoles will go live tomorrow. Here’s everything you need to know about the PS5 Pro so far, from price to improvements to design and release date.
PS5 Pro price and release date
Sony confirmed at the end of its Technical Presentation on 10 September that its shiny new PS5 Pro will be launching on 7 November 2024, but it will be available to pre-order starting from 26 September 2024 from PlayStation Direct and third-party retailers. The 30th-anniversary edition console will be available to pre-order on the same date but will launch later on 21 November.
Rumours so far suggest that PlayStation Direct will open its doors for pre-orders at 10am. Sony dropped the Astro Bot controller at 10am in the UK, and it stated in its Japanese blog post that the PS5 Pro will be available to pre-order from 10am. Reddit users in Australia and New Zealand have also noticed third-party retailers flag 10am as the pre-order time.
Remarkably, the PS5 Pro will cost an eye-watering £699.99, which came as a shock to many gamers, given that the mid-generation PS4 Pro cost the exact same as the PlayStation 4 when it launched in 2016.
It’s not entirely surprising from a technical standpoint, however. The spec jump seems like a much bigger leap between the PS5 and PS5 Pro console, compared to the jump between the PS4 and the PS4 Pro.
PS5 Pro design
The PS5 Pro looks like a mix between the original PS5 and the PS5 Slim. Sony says that it’s the same height as the original console, while the width is the same size as the PS5 Slim. The visual distinction is that the PS5 Pro boasts wide grills across the middle.
As rumoured, the console doesn’t come with a disc drive, but you can add the Blu-Ray disc drive (£99.99, direct.playstation.com) for an added price, potentially bringing the price up to £800. The PS5 Pro comes with a 2TB internal SSD – that’s double the storage of the PS5 Slim, one DualSense wireless controller and a copy of Astro’s Playroom.
PS5 Pro specs and features
The PS5 Pro is pure raw unfettered power, making it a big step up from the original PS5. Boasting a larger GPU, Sony says that the console’s rendering power has been boosted by 45 per cent, enhancing game fidelity at high frame rates to make it run buttery smooth. The GPU has 67 per cent more Compute Units than the current PS5 console and 28 per cent faster memory
Ray tracing has also been improved, with the console providing more dynamic reflection and refraction of light. Sony showed this difference in action with clips of Gran Turismo 7 and Hogwarts Legacy. The former showed reflections between cars at 60fps, while Hogwarts Legacy showed better reflections and casting of shadows. Sony says that the system allows rays to be cast at double and sometimes triple the speed of the PS5 Slim.
Lastly, Sony says that it’s brought on AI-driven upscaling in the form of, what it calls, PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution, which uses machine learning-based technology to provide greater image clarity to games and increased detail. It looked pretty incredible in the footage shared during the presentation.
Another new feature is something called PS5 Pro Game Boost, which Sony says stabilises and improves the performance of 8,500 backward compatible PS4 games that are playable on the PS5. An Enhanced Image Quality feature will also increase the resolution of PS4 games.
The PS5 Pro will also gain a WiFi 7 chip, an improvement over the Wifi 6 chip found in the original PS5. As soon as we’ve got our hands on it, we’ll bring you a full review.
Read more: PlayStation 5 review: Is the console worth your money?