PlayStation 5 Pro – The First Hands-On Preview - IGN

We went hands-on with the PS5 Pro, getting first-hand experience playing the new, upgraded versions of a dozen PS5 games on Sony's upcoming console.

[hiawa23]

I am excited. My drive and base have already come in so hoping I can secure a pre-order for the Pro console.

[darthv72]

You shouldn't have any trouble getting a Pro. Once released, they will be readily available. Or are you talking about the 30th anniversary Pro?

[hiawa23]

Just interested in the regular Pro. I am hoping Sony will release the plates so all Playstation owners can buy them.

[buffig]

Pre-Order queue for the pro is already 2 hours long

[stoney101]

Had to wait 1 hour 30 mins in the queue but managed to get my preorder in this morning. Looks like they are still available in the UK at least at the time of writing.

[cbuc1125]

Same here. Drive and stand purchased 2 weeks ago.

[Sprucegoose77]

Wow, 13 downvotes for someone being exciting about the PS5 Pro on a PS5 Pro article? Enjoy your PS5 Pro hiawa23!

[Jin_Sakai]

Should’ve been no more than $599. And that’s pushing it. Wish Sony would get their head on straight and lower the price due to feedback!

[andy85]

Given the internals they'd be losing a lot of money at 599

[iamtheMitch]

The cost difference between this and the base PS5 digital is likely a little over $100. We already have a very accurate idea of the BoM on the base PS5s and you can generally work it out from there.

The APU will likely be about 50% extra or around $50 more, the RAM chips are swapped out from 14Gbps to 18Gbps, likely around $20 cost difference, R&D recoup would be something along the lines of $30 per unit if they're aiming for ~10m units (PS4 Pro did >14m). The 1TB>2TB SSD chips upgrade for them likely only costs around $30 and there'd be small additional costs for the board, PSU/Heatsink, VRMs etc. They also included Wi-Fi 7.

The base PS5s are likely selling at a healthy profit (for the console space) at this point. Folks keep bringing up that process nodes for logic/processing chips no longer dropping in price like they used to (and on the latest nodes, going up a little), but they neglect to mention that the SSD chips and the RAM chips in PS5 have together likely dropped by around $100 since the PS5 launched, knocking a big chunk off consoles that were straddling a break even line already. Sony are still selling the PS5 Base/Slims at this price simply because they can just about get away with it, not because they'd lose money.

I think they should have left off Wi-Fi 7 and kept it for PS6 and relegated the 2TB upgrade to a non-numbered, wider release 30th anniversary edition that comes in $50 more. In turn giving people the option and lowering the barrier of entry for a Pro. Therefore a Wi-Fi 6 1TB PS5 Digital could come in at $549 and a 1TB PS5 Disc at $649; and they'd still be making anywhere from $50 to $120 extra profit on these units vs the Slim/Base PS5s. Yet they went full tilt with the greed and nervous short-term cost recoup mindset.

Then 2TB editions could come in $50 more but due to the chips being cheaper than that they'd make another $10-20 on those in addition to the previous gains.

Alternatively they could just release a $549-to-599 digital only and just sell the disc drive -- readily available -- for for $79-to-99. They still could've made plenty and addressed a wider audience.

Sony could roughly break even on a $349 Slim Digital and then make significantly high amounts of profit on every console tier up this eg. ...

Their renewed lineup really should have looked something like this:

$349 - PS5 Slim 1TB
$399 - PS5 Slim 30th Anniversary 2TB Special Edition (Available for 1 Year)
$499 - PS5 Slim 30th Anniversary 2TB Numbered Limited Edition + Stand & Special Extras (12,300 Units)

$549 - PS5 Pro 1TB
$599 - PS5 Pro 30th Anniversary 2TB Special Edition (Available for 1 Year)
$699 - PS5 Pro 30th Anniversary 2TB Numbered Limited Edition + Stand & Special Extras (12,300 Units)

$99 - Universal Disc Drive for PS5 Slim & PS5 Pro

They would reach a wider audience across the board (which is more important for getting people in the ecosystem to spend money), retain more players, give a wider number of players a more premium experience, improve brand image and consumer satisfaction; and likely reap greater rewards over the span of this generation and more.. Unfortunately the short-term money men seem to be in control rather than the more balanced, mid to long term thinkers. It's all about fast cost recoups with little regard for the bigger picture.

[andy85]

Really don't see how you're adding only $50 for a GPU that's going from (ballpark) a 2070 to a 4070.

[Jin_Sakai]

“Given the internals they'd be losing a lot of money at 599“

Console makes usually lose money on hardware and recoup it with software sales. Are you expecting PS6 to be $799? If so the days of selling a 100+ million consoles are over.

[andy85]

@jin_sakai 799? Not in the slightest. It'll be cheaper than the Pro. They can price the Pro high because it isn't needed to play any games and they don't need people to adopt it for software sales, where as the PS6 they need the numbers on the console to sell the games. Doesn't change whether someone has a 5 or a 5 Pro.

[TiredGamer]

A niche product doesn't have the economies of scale to aggressively sell at a loss. You can make the argument with the base PS5, even with 20% inflation factored in over the last few years, but there'd be minimal incentive to invest in low-margin hardware if the price was at or below cost.

The Base and Pro are two separate business models and exist for different purposes.

[crazyCoconuts]

@mitch, "Unfortunately the short-term money men seem to be in control rather than the more balanced, mid to long term thinker"

I would argue your suggestion is more short -term money making as it would hit a lower price point. The long term approach of packing in better hardware with the anticipation of costs going down over time.

[badz149]

@iamtheMitch

You must be talking from the PC perspective. Sony has recently invited many game journalist including from DF for the hands-on demo. The Pro output 8K res on some games like GT7 and have shown games running at 4K60fps with PSSR. Sorry but there is just no $700 PC out there that comes close to these capabilities right now. Whatever sub $600 price you were talking about there, just doesn't make sense for what's on offer with the Pro.

People laughed at the claim of 8K but then Sony showed them games running at 8K on the Pro on an 8K screen. What now? I really wish to see Youtubers like Jayztwocent or whatever his name try running at a playable fps at 8K on his pricematching PC. See how fast that crows got eaten.

[mkis007]

How would you feel if your employer decided you were only worth 80% of your rate of pay arbitrarily? Hey we aren't paying you you 30 bucks an hour any more here is 25.

[Tacoboto]

You're comparing a human worker's worth, to a video game console? What in the heck

[mkis007]

I'm comparing a stupid statement to another one. Things are worth what they are. Unless you know, you don't know. Jin arbitrarily said the pro should have been no more than 600...why? I'd rather it exist at 700 than not exist.

[Tacoboto]

Consoles historically used to be priced at a loss, especially at launch. In those times, manufacturing costs were expected to decrease over the generation, and losses would be made up through royalties the platform makers generate through software sales.

Today manufacturing prices aren't coming down, but we as consumers know very well about the 30% Mtx royalties the digital storefronts apply, and that Sony has stated this is their most profitable generation yet.

The only stupid statement is yours, and it is equally both arrogant and ignorant. Sony can afford the hit, but they know gamers like you would attack other gamers before daring to question them.

[mkis007]

No console has come down in price. Inflation hit like a ton of bricks taking any cost downs with it. It is an abnormal generation. It doesn't help that at least xbox and playstation put a lot of thought into getting ssd onto console.

Ps5 pro is not able to be sold for less due to how little they know it will sell. It's a premium kit and will sell only 15% at most. Economy of scale.

[franwex]

You know what I wish? If we stopped complaining about the price already. Could you grant my wish?

[Muigi]

They won’t.

[Tankbusta40]

Consoles need to be in a sweet spot. The people downvoting you are Sony fan boys. Sony is not on the right course with Herman and this is another poor decision. This whole gen has been a disaster on all fronts from Sony and Microsoft. I hope this mid gen fails right away so these ideas go away

[hiawa23]

Clearly Sony is about maximizing profits. That seems to have been the goal with releasing the Slim. Lower costs, not pass the savings to the consumer like in the past and make the drive optional. Seems to be a similar strategy with the Pro.

[Ninjamonkey82]

Had my time to calm down lol, My level head is now on. Most admit my first impressions was dominated by the price. But looking at digital foundrys latest video on there hands on. I'm impressed will be getting the pro. But I'll be trading my Ps5 towards it for me that's the sensible open for my pockets.

[BQ32]

People just like to react, the tech is much higher with well over double the hard drive capacity. Think about how apple up charges for incremental hard drive improvements. I’ve sold my ps5 to my brother for 450 Allowing him to pay me 100 per month so what is actually 250 more to upgrade. It cost me 200 from the 4 to the 4 pro. No big deal.

[attilayavuzer]

Don't know if Apple should be the gold standard for how companies set their pricing.

[Muigi]

Day 1

[lukasmain]

Me too. Was never in doubt

[derek]

I'm surprised they let this outlet review it in advance after ign spent the last 2 weeks bashing it.

[-Ghost]

Not really surprising. IGN is owned by a billionaire company. It's all promotion for Sony while M$ is knocked out.

[1nsomniac]

Full damage control!

[BQ32]

What is, ign has multiple articles out bashing it before trying it but now they have to admit it’s good. Where is the damage control?

[derek]

Stop with the click bait articles made just to capitalize on the fake internet outrage, It damages igns credibility if they have to do an about face on the pro.

[1nsomniac]

Sony realise that the reception of their “new” console was for the first time, incredibly poor. So they’re now in full swing to try and turn that around. Obviously treating people in a special way - to early previews etc will always swing their attitudes.

They’re also releasing arguably there best ps+ offering of the whole generation..

I’m not saying it’s something sneaky they’re doing, they’ve had to do it to try to show some positivity around it.

[Christopher]

Is that what you're doing?

[Dfooster]

Just buy a decent oled 4k tv with game optimizer VRR etc and you pretty much have the ps5 pro with that and a base ps5 already.

[PRIMORDUS]

LMAO making it sound like it's the best piece of tech ever, come on now. I mean yeah it's a nice upgrade but please be real, the PC already showed what next gen graphics are and will be.

[Michiel1989]

in europe i need to pay basically 860 dollars for it or something, can't support that.

[paddy95]

All the games I play on ps5 are ps4 games anyways. I see no point in upgrading my cod box.

[gold_drake]

yeea after reading and seeing some stuff, im gonna get it. i play a fair bit and its worth it to me.

but ill sell my base ps5 before that. no way ima keep both ha.

[where-eagles-dare]

This is the current situation on the Playstation Direct website that I am met with trying to order my purchase. Message below has been copied & pasted from the official site. ### edit - I am in the UK.

PlayStation
You have been temporarily placed in a waiting room.

The queue is paused.
Updated 08:05
Get Ready for PlayStation® 30th Anniversary Collection and PS5 Pro!

We're currently experiencing a large volume of customers to our site. We're working hard to get you back in so you can place your pre-order direct from PlayStation.

IMPORTANT INFO:
When countdown reaches zero, you’ll be assigned a random place in the queue.
Don’t worry – your place in the queue is secure. Opening multiple queue tabs or manually refreshing the page will not affect your place. The page refreshes automatically.
Have your payment details ready. We accept Visa, Mastercard, Maestro cards and Paypal.
You’ll need a PSN account to buy directly from PlayStation. Have your Sign-In ID ready.
This page is secure.

[gigoran8]

at first I was afraid scalpers were gonna hike the pro prices. No. instead they purchased all the freaking disc drives and selling them at 200-300% of the original price

[Smitty2020]

ppl selling the anniversary for 5k on ebay lol

[Smitty2020]

update, all anniversary ones gone. i was in the q from 08.10

[Hugodastrevas]

I'll stick to my normal PS5

[Retro1986]

Norwegian stores has Pre orders today.
965.64$ for normal ps5 pro.
Ps5 pro 30th anniversary is 1354.64$

Ps5 slim with disc is 615$ without discount (discounts happens often)

You can easily buy a second hand 100% pristine condition normal ps5/ps5 slim with disc and warranty here for around 379$.

As i see it.. Sony belives their ps5 pro without disc is worth twice as much as normal ps5/ps5 slim WITH disc.
And ps5 pro 30th is three times worth.

Wow Sony… wow… good luck! This aint for the average joe.

[Zenzuu]

I'm quite excited for it. Since, I'm a level 5 member at my local EB game store, it offers a good trade in price for my original PS5, to offset some the cost for the Pro, which works out to be $599 Australian dollars, which is still a lot cheaper than when I first bought my PS5 at $749 back when it first launched.

[SonOfOsiris]

Rip Sony

[hiawa23]

Damn, so pre-orders started today and I was stuck in the basket on Playstation Direct. Would not order when I hit the order button like 10 times then it kicked me back out in the waiting Q😡😡😡.