Topic: PS5....Pro?

I have to admit I was pretty upset after purchasing a ps4, only to find out that later a better model was released, the ps4 pro. It was better all around but because I already spent the money, I didn't want to pay for an upgrade. I would, however, have waited had I known that the pro was coming. When the PS5 gets released, is there going to be an upgrade a year later? The PS5 Pro? It would be nice to know this before I buy the system. It's usually a purchase as soon as it is released.

What do you think?

@darklaw I'm sure they'll be a "pro" eventually. The ps4 pro was released 3 full years after tho original. It's just how tech works nowadays there's always an upgrade around the corner.

@darklaw The amazing thing is that Sony stuck to their goal of having all the games fully functional on both consoles. There isn’t a game out there that is only playable on the Pro — they all function on the base PS4 also. (I don’t think the same could be said of the Xbox One X). The performance on base PS4 can be hampered supposedly in things like load times and obviously the resolution on 4K, but my base system hasn’t let me down yet. I doubt it would be worth waiting 3 years or so for a possible PS5 Pro if you really want the system.

@Th3solution there are no Xbox One X only games. All games work on all 3 Xbox one models

I'm not sure we will, the pro and x were made mainly for 4k and 60 fps in mind. I don't see 8k being where 4k was when the upgraded consoles were released. And it will also be on how well they have sold, and I'm not sure that they have.

Sony has hinted that the PS5 may be more expensive at launch and my guess is that they will be working to lowering the price over the lifetime of PS5 instead of launching another console mid gen. Having gamers spend $500 every 3 years on a new console may be too much. Perhaps the PS5 may come with a shorter lifespan of about 5 - 6 years.

@redd214 Oh, ok - thanks for clarifying that. Something I read in some comment section somewhere led me to believe that there were experiences that base users were locked out of due the large discrepancy between the powers of the One X and the vanilla Xbox. I think keeping the software functional in all iterations a good strategy because otherwise it does alienate base users and early adopters.
....Like when I try to use an app on my older phone and it can’t hardly run anymore because the new phones have come out and the apps all upgrade and won’t even work properly on the last gen tech. So annoying.

Its all relative. If you waited until the PS3 Super Slim to jump in, then do you have any right to be annoyed that a year later, the PS4 launches. Also, nobody says you have to buy a console at launch either. Throughout the generation, there has been numerous editions - whether its a 'limited' bundle console, a revision of the base or, most recently with home (rather than portable) consoles (although some generations were 'modular' or built to be expanded). Point is, do you get angry after buying a 'day' 1 launch console and then a year later, there is a limited console bundle that looks better, has a revision that may not be more powerful but quieter, more efficient, quieter etc because that's what has been happening for years. All those who bought a PS4 in the first few years (as I did) saw the Pro release 3 years after the PS4 and, if you only bought a Pro in the past year or so, is going to see the PS5 launch before their Pro is 5yrs old. Anyone who bought a day 1 Pro, has seen a few ltd edition Pro bundles come out...

Tech doesn't stand still and neither do consoles - certainly none in the past few years with numerous revisions - not necessarily revisions you can see like a slim version but also numerous internal revisions too that make a console more efficient, quieter, cooler etc all in the same looking shell - There have been a few different Pro's launched since the Day 1 editions.

If you wait until the hardware is at the most efficient or quietest, you also run the risk of not owning it for too long before the revision or replacement adds something that is more obviously different or better spec - like a slim with a 4k HDR bluray player or a Pro with basically an extra GPU built in. No doubt that within a year or two, those versions have been tweaked, revised etc under the hood to improve their efficiency, noise level and/or heat reduction just like the predecessor that you can wait for but in waiting, will also bring you closer to the next big change coming. Basically there is almost always tweaks under the hood until they are in a position to reduce the size (Slim), add extra functionality (4k HDR bluray, HDMI port upgrade for examples) or to change the capability (Pro/X or new generation). Whether it 'looks' obvious (as changing the shape for example) or not (changing the internals to improve efficiency, reduce power consumption, heat and/or noise) - consoles are constantly changing. I think there are 3 different editions of the PS4 Pro - each with something slightly different inside and that was in the first 3yrs, they could of made a 4th edition too now that I am not aware of but there has been 3 editions.

It doesn't matter when you buy, there is always some newer edition or replacement that will release after you buy. I can see that continuing in the future too. Whether we see a 'Pro' type iteration, I don't know because that would be most likely a revision to account for some external reason - like 4k and/or VR was for this generation. Maybe Ray tracing could be a reason for a PS5 Pro - I know RT is mentioned for the PS5 but if it becomes more taxing that you either run a game at say 4k without RT, 1440, with 'low' level of RT but have to drop down to 1080p for high RT, a Pro could offer high RT and resolution for example in this situation. You will still get people saying they don't need a Pro for RT or Resolution - depending on what aspect they value most - happy to play at 1080 high RT or 4k no RT.

Anyway, the TLDR is that consoles are constantly changing and whether you can see the changes or not, it doesn't mean that they are not being upgraded much more frequently than every 5,6,7 yrs when a new gen launches.

@darklaw I will buy the PS5 once bundles hit the shelves usually 4-6 months after release, part paid by trading in my ps4 and games, that way you avoid any known issues. I will upgrade if theres a significant refreshed version 2-3 years later - part paid by trading in the original PS5. I think that's fair enough and takes the edge off the relatively high cost.

It's a capatalist environment. 3 yearly incremental upgrades are nothing compared to the crap in actual games these days (loot boxes etc) £100+ edition games. Real life things are way worse again - having to pay toll fees of £650 to get to work per year and child care at another £650 per month. £1000 in petrol every year. £3400 to go to Disneyland for 4 days!!!

Anyway I digress. I hope there's a mid gen refresh so I can spend my money on something good which I will appreciate.

I’ll get my PS5 preorder down the moment I can, unless they really balls it up somehow. Nothing like some next gen goodness!

I’d also get a PS5 pro, in principal, obviously you’d have to weigh up the pros and cons at the time. But as it stands... I want some new hardware!

Of the four PlayStation generation is only one has had a pro model. It’s always difficult to predict how technology will develop in the future but there is a very high chance that there will be no pro model for the PS5. I certainly wouldn’t base my decision on whether to get a PS5 or not on the thought that maybe something better may be coming three years later.

@Ryall There is a very good reason why the PS1 to PS3 didn't get a 'Pro' model. The First 2 generations of Playstation were made for CRT TV's and really didn't have a reason to upgrade mid gen. Its not like people were upgrading to TV's that had higher resolutions - maybe bigger screen sizes so there wasn't much need to bring out some new console. The PS3 launched at a time when HD flatscreen TV's were starting to gain a foothold and as such, launched 'HD' ready. If you didn't have a Flatscreen, they still worked on CRT TV's but they were built HD ready. MS by releasing sooner, didn't launch the 360 with a HDMI port - it still had Analogue connections until a revised 360 came out with a HDMI port. Anyway, these Consoles launched HD ready before HD was established. Had they launched and still been limited to CRT resolutions and aspect ratio, maybe after a few years, you would have seen a Pro version to deliver Widescreen HD gaming too keep up with the display tech.

Both the Xbox One and PS4 were still HD consoles and even then, some games on the One at least were not delivering a higher resolution and both consoles have games that cannot deliver a full HD image quality. Within month's of both of these consoles launching, 4k TV's launched. Considering neither current gen consoles can offer full HD across all games, the XB1 having some games that are the same resolution as last gen consoles, then these were certainly not built for the displays that increasing numbers of people are buying.

Its like making the PS3 only powerful enough to run games at 540p but with a lot of games that are only 360-450p and those that are 540p, are only 540p some of the time but often lower because of dynamic resolution scaling. Had Sony (or MS) released last gen consoles with that capability due to weak CPU/GPU's (I say weak compared to the PC market and for delivering gaming for the HD era) then maybe when HD TV's had taken off, Sony and MS may well of made a 'Pro' version to run on HD TV's OR maybe rushed the next gen consoles to market, maybe the generation would of been replaced by 2011 instead of 2013. Obviously, Sony had another reason for making a Pro and that was VR. In reality, the Pro hasn't really delivered on 4k gaming as it 'promised'. The implementation of Chequerboard rendering in their first party games (H:ZD, GoW) for example has been incredible, creating the illusion of the game running at much higher resolution by keeping a lot of the data from the previous frame(s) and using that to create a 4k sized image to reduce the workload on the GPU is nothing short of incredible and we may see some of these techniques used in the future - on PS5 for example to reduce the GPU workload as it calculates all those Rays for mire realistic lighting. Why waste resources on rendering a whole frame every 16.6ms as well as calculate all those rays just to tick a box - Native 4k - when those resources can be better used to improve all the things in that image, the way the light, the shadows, the reflections etc interact with the world. A Pro version a few years later could offer 'native' but the cost now (or in a year) to git native 4k, 60fps and high level ray tracing which even a nVidia 2080Ti can't do - it struggles to do that at 1080p/60 so maybe we will see a Pro in a few years in to offer some improvements because the technology has improved as well as become cheaper.

With 8k too, its a good job that technologies and rendering techniques have advanced to the point that devices can use data from previous frames, use AI to recognise objects to improve upscaling (DLSS). I doubt that many (mainly indies) will be above 4k natively but a Pro version could offer a boost in resolution - again not native 8k but with a higher resolution starting point - double 4k for example and use CB rendering to reach 8k instead of say a native 4k.

It really depends on the technology - not just display and display resolutions bit also the technology in games (like Ray Tracing) and the resources needed to trace more and more rays

If a "Pro" model is being worked on in the background, even if its just early concepts, whatever plans were in place will almost certainly have had a spanner thrown in the works by corona. With worldwide production down significantly, the cost of hardware, memory in particular, will take at least 12 months to stabilize. Possibly even longer depending on how long this pandemic goes on.

Im pretty sure a pro model will come about eventually, but it may be longer than we realize.

As a pro owner, i can honestly say that the upgrade (while nice to have) was not worth the extra cash. Sure its nice, but you really arnt missing out on anything significant. The xbox hits that 4k mark in more games than the pro for sure, but even then, both pro consoles only have a handfull of games that can actually reach those resolutions.

More often than not you either get a resolution boost to 1440p, or a little better FPS, no where near enough to justify the difference in price. Personal opinion, get ya PS5 when it comes out, you will be waiting a while for the pro version, and even then it may not be the upgrade you want

I don't get the argument of consoles costing too much money and upgrading in 3 or so years. Lots of people spend $1000+ every 12/24 months on a new phone.

Maybe the way forward is a contract. $20 a month for 24 months or something like that. Or maybe Stadia has hit the nail on th head and in the future hardware won't be needed.

Imagine if the PS5 is a streaming device and the controller reveal was actually the full reveal of hardware!

I'll be very surprised if there is not a Pro version. I'm actually quite surprised there is even a PS5 tbh and not just a continual upgrade concept.
Each generation had a significant leap:
PS1 > PS2 was CD > DVD
PS2 > PS3 was DVD > Blu Ray
PS3 > PS4 was bad > great (I mean, it was)
PS4 > PS4p was HD > UHD
PS4p > PS5 is what HHD > SSD? Will that be enough for the consumer?

I'm kinda thinking the PS5p will introduce 8k based on this trend.
PS5p in 2025
PS6 in 2027. God knows what that will bring.

PS5 > PS5p is games delivered via senses to games delivered via suppository.

Cute, we're gonna be PS5 bros.

I'm not sure if 8K will be at the stage 4K was when the Pro and X were released, and I don't know what else they could use a marketing pull to sell those consoles. I'm not a fan the mid gen upgrades anyway, I need a bit more than slighty better graphics to fork out for a new console and (presumably) a new tv. As long as you can still play the games on a normal PS5, I will be sticking with that.

@icecube The SSD is a significant technical leap, as there will be PS5 games which will not be possible on PS4. People need to look more into this, it really is a game changer and is a lot more then just loading screens will be almost a thing of the past.

lol no games are running at 8k within the next 5 years. The resources required to reach that scale are just way too far out of reach and not worth it anyway.

@Octane nice we can play online together and you can kick me out of the game for drawing penises on the floor again