We may see PS5 Pro specifications by the end of the month
Sony reportedly expects all of the PS5 Pro specifications to literally leak out to the public by the end of the year, or rather, the month, as the delivery of console kits to game development studios begins. This further opens the opportunity for insiders through independent companies to get an insight into the upcoming console and then spread it on the Internet, claims the editor-in-chief of the Insider Gaming portal Tom Henderson.
Henderson posted this in response to another Twitter (X) post, in which he when asked about the legitimacy of the rumours about the new PS5 Pro console. He wrote that he can't comment on other insider information because he doesn't know anything about it, but that he knows that Sony expects an unofficial release of information about the console.
If Henderson's answer is legitimate information, it confirms that Sony is already deep in the process of working on a mid-cycle update for the console, which is currently known as the PS5 Pro according to rumors and gossip. In addition, it appears that the console is already in working order and will soon be delivered to game development teams as a so-called “dev kit”.
This makes sense, given that we're approaching the halfway mark of the expected life cycle of last-gen consoles. It's been more than three years since the PS5 hit the scene, and four years is generally the halfway mark between the last generation of consoles and the next.
Traditionally, console manufacturers like Sony and Microsoft often “refresh” consoles mid-cycle to boost sales and interest in somewhat dated hardware. Such updates, or product refreshes, come with improved hardware to improve performance and graphics quality.
All of this means that we could definitely see a PS5 Pro announcement in 2024. Rumors so far about the upcoming console reveal that it is said to have a significantly upgraded GPU, with an architecture that is two generations newer than the GPU in the current PS5 console.
PlayStation BlogThis information comes from a user on the Resetera forums under the name RandomlyRandon67. According to them, the PS5 Pro specifications include a GPU codenamed Viola, which is normally made on the TSMC N4P manufacturing process. The GPU is said to have almost twice the WGP of the current PS5, with a total of 30, and will apparently also feature AMD RDNA 3 architecture.
However, it won't be a typical RDNA 3 GPU according to current information. The report suggests that the Viola GPU will have improvements in Ray tracing lighting effects derived from the upcoming AMD RDNA 4 architecture.
The new PS5 Pro console should also have the XDNA2 AMD “neural” processor to accelerate AI functions. Allegedly, the PS5 Pro specs should thus fulfill Sony's desire to duplicate what Nvidia and Intel are doing with their DLSS and XeSS technologies, thanks to artificial intelligence that can provide higher image quality than “non-AI” technology like which is FSR.
The last major upgrade according to this information is a slightly faster Zen 2 CPU, clocked at 4.4 GHz, which isn't huge, but it's better than nothing.