Key Takeaways
- The PS5 Pro is rumored to have improved frame rates and output, and is scheduled for release in 2024.
- If you were planning on buying a PS5 in the near future, it might be wise to hold off on the purchase.
- Many more games are expected to be released this fall, in line with the rumored launch of the PS5 Pro.
When you finally save up the money to buy something you’ve been wanting for months or years, it’s tempting to rush out and buy it. The PlayStation 5 is especially appealing because it’s not only the most advanced gaming console on the market, but it also comes with a host of exclusive titles, including: Astro Bot and Returnal. If you’re not interested in exclusive titles, this is still where the majority of console gamers play titles like Call of Duty and FC 25. If you want to hang out with friends online, this might be your best option.
Rumors are strongly suggesting that the PS5 Pro will launch in time for the holidays in 2024. While it might be tempting to buy a shiny new PS5 now, there are a few reasons why you should wait until the PS5 Pro becomes a reality.
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1 New consoles should improve frame rates
The smoothest gameplay
Sony Interactive Entertainment
Although the PS5 is powerful, it is four years old and already showing its age compared to modern gaming PCs: Many titles don’t run at more than 60 frames per second at full detail, which isn’t necessarily a problem, but some people don’t feel comfortable compromising detail or running at close to 30fps.
The PS5 Pro is rumored to have a 33.5 teraflops GPU, delivering a 45% increase in rendering power overall. That might not sound like much, but it could be enough to run games like Spider-Man 2 at over 60fps without scaling anything down. With a Pro, you’ll always get the smoothest possible performance with any PS5 game, at least until the PS6 arrives in a few years’ time.
2 Ray tracing should be more stable
Bringing back the element of surprise
Sony Interactive Entertainment
The PS5 already supports ray tracing, and while you won’t necessarily notice it because it doesn’t come up much, that’s due to the performance issues mentioned above: when lighting features do come up, usually in game quality modes, they can cause a significant drop in frame rate.
Some games, such as Miles Morales, can hit 60fps with ray tracing turned on, but the PS5 Pro should be able to hit that regularly, so if you want realistic lighting that doesn’t impact gameplay, the PS5 Pro is the safer choice.
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3 4K and 8K Output
Say goodbye to 1080p
LG
One of the rumored ways Sony could improve performance is a new upscaling technique, PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR). This is supposed to be similar to Nvidia’s DLSS, which renders game content at a lower native resolution and then uses AI techniques to boost the output resolution to improve frame rates. The PS5 Pro may also feature a new machine learning architecture to accelerate upscaling.
PSSR should allow more games to run smoothly at 4K and make 8K resolution practical rather than just a bullet point in the PS5’s specs. Sony has plenty of 8K Bravia TVs to sell, but without any 8K content outside of YouTube, it’s going to be a tough sell. As it stands, most 8K TV owners are just upscaling 4K movies and TV shows.
4 Bundled Games
Maybe I’ll play something new from scratch
Sony
This is more speculative, but it’s possible that the PS5 Pro will be bundled with one or more new games as an incentive to upgrade: current PS5 models ship with Astro’s Playroom, but coincidentally, the much bigger Astro Bot game is launching on September 6. What better way to show off the Pro’s graphics than with the PS5 mascot?
At the very least, waiting until the holidays will give you more of the hottest games you can buy: Star Wars Outlaws, for example, is out in August, and Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is due to be released in September. By November, games like Assassin’s Creed Shadows and Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will also be available, making it the perfect time to finally take the plunge.
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FAQ
Q: How much does the PS5 Pro cost?
We don’t know for sure, but the $599 price tag seems likely, as the PS4 Pro has consistently been priced around $100 more than the base-model PS4.
