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Sony will officially launch the PlayStation 5 Pro on Nov. 7, but you don’t have to wait to get all the details. Units have reached a few doorsteps early, and the internet has seen that the documentation has been spread far and wide. We now know the capabilities of the upgraded hardware, and Sony promises those improvements will be put to the test with 50 games enhanced for PS5 Pro on launch day.
The $699 PS5 Pro looks a lot like the existing versions of the console, save for the racing stripes down the side. That’s not what makes the PS5 Pro fast, though. Most of the credit goes to the new processor. It’s still based on the Zen 2 architecture, with eight CPU cores and 16 threads. The clock speed is higher, but the leaked document does not list the number. The integrated Radeon GPU is getting much more capable, with 16.7 TFLOPS of compute. That’s a big jump over the 10.6 TFLOPS of the original PS5 but somewhat lower than previous leaks have claimed.
As expected, the machine also has 16GB of GDDR6, along with 2GB of DDR5. Game developers will have access to all 16GB of that memory. The additional DDR5 module may be reserved for the system to give devs more freedom. That, along with the 67% boost in compute, should help make games look even better on the PS5 Pro.
While Sony has been cautious not to present the PS5 Pro as a next-gen console, it is going to offer a nice upgrade to finish out the ninth console generation. Without confirming any specs, Sony has provided an expansive list of PS5 Pro games, including Baldur’s Gate 3, Spex Legends, Palworld, Star Wars: Outlaws, Madden NFL 25, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, and many more. This is just the first batch, too. Sony says more games will add PS5 Pro enhancements but neglects to explain how exactly the games will get better. We could see better ray-traced lighting, higher frame rates (up to 120 fps with TV support), and AI upscaling for sharper visuals.
You’ll have more room to store all the improved PS5 Pro games, too. The leaked specs show a predictable but still much-appreciated jump from the 825GB SSD in the original PS5 to a whopping 2TB in the Pro. Buying a larger SSD was almost required, even for the PS5 Slim with its 1TB drive. This added to the already high cost of the console, but PS5 Pro buyers won’t have to perform an immediate hardware upgrade.
The PS5 Pro is still available for pre-order from Sony and various retailers, and it’ll be a breeze to get one compared with the original launch. You won’t have to find the least objectionable scalper, nor will you have to learn the restock dates of every Best Buy store in the tri-state area—just put down $700, and you’ll get the console on Nov. 7.