PS5 Pro release date, patent, and price for the rumored next-gen upgrade

After what appeared like an infinite hype cycle, the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X have kickstarted a brand new period of console gaming. It will be a sluggish burn for the complete transition, as many players are nonetheless making an attempt to get their palms on one of many new consoles earlier than the holidays.

However even when the PS5 and Sequence X are solely a month previous, chatter about what might be an eventual PS5 Professional launch started to floor by early December.

The offender was a T3 news story that rehashed a Sony patent application that was printed on July 30, 2020. The doc laid out plans for a console that could be twice as highly effective because the not too long ago launched PS5.

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A mid-generation launch like that’s most likely one thing Sony is focused on, particularly after the Series X managed to nab the title of “strongest console ever made.” However might the PlayStation-maker have been plotting their subsequent console launch months earlier than the PS5 was presupposed to hit cabinets?

With out an official phrase from Sony, we are able to solely speculate concerning the firm’s console roadmap, however the previous has confirmed that conjecture like this may maintain some weight. In spite of everything, early news concerning the PS5 began as experiences on Sony patents about console options and specs, a few of which turned out to be accurate in November.

Take into account that simply because an organization filed a patent for an idea, doesn’t suggest will probably be made right into a client product. However Sony’s launch of the PS4 Professional again in 2016 hints {that a} related PS5 Professional could be within the pipeline.

When is the PS5 Professional launch date?

Rumors concerning the PS5 Professional stay unconfirmed so there is not any launch date window for the potential mid-generation replace. However we are able to look again to previous console releases to take a position when Sony may drop the PS5 Professional.

The bottom mannequin PS4 was launched in November 2013 and the PS4 Professional was launched three years later in November 2016. Wanting even additional again, the PS3 was launched in November 2006 and the next PS3 Slim was launched three years later in September 2009. So the sample right here appears abundantly clear.

Sony has a observe document of releasing a console replace three years after it enters a brand new era, which implies the PS5 Professional might change into a actuality round late 2023 or early 2024.

What might the PS5 Professional worth be?

Wanting again on the launch of the PS4 and PS4 Professional may also trace at how Sony might worth an eventual PS5 improve. The PS4 launched at $399 and the Professional mannequin was launched three years later with the identical $399 price ticket.

This time round, two PS5 fashions have launched: a $399 Digital Version and the $499 Normal Version. If Sony maintains its pricing technique from the previous era then the Digital and Normal Editions of the PS5 Professional may launch on the similar $399 and $499 worth factors.

What might the PS5 Professional specs be?

The Sony patent describes a console that will include two graphical processing models, which might be a primary for the in-home console historical past. Presently, the PS5 runs on a custom-made system-on-a-chip that integrates an AMD-made central processing unit with a GPU right into a single piece of {hardware}. Sony’s SoC delivers a whopping 10.3 teraflops of graphical energy and lightning-quick load instances.

The alleged PS5 Professional patent suggests slapping two SoC inside a console, which might in idea double the PS5’s energy.

“Plural SoCs could also be used to offer a ‘high-end’ model of the console with higher processing and storage functionality,” reads the doc.

Attaining this from an engineering standpoint could be simpler mentioned than accomplished. The PS5 was particularly designed to chill and preserve a single SoC, including one other would additionally double the warmth the console is able to producing when it is operating at full throttle.

Early PS5 adopters are already complaining about noisy fans in sure models. Housing two SoCs might imply much more followers or an excellent bigger console to make sure the PS5 Professional will not overheat. However that is all hypothesis for now, Sony may work out a approach to make a extra highly effective, single SoC which might get rid of the necessity to add one other to the PS5 Professional.

An upgraded PS5 remains to be nothing greater than a pipe dream for the time being, however this Sony patent supplied some insights into what the corporate might be plotting subsequent.

The PS5 Professional is rumored to be within the works.