Sony finally pulled the wraps off the PlayStation 5 Pro this week, and the internet reacted the way you'd expect: a collective spit-take at the price tag.
That's not a typo, and no, your existing PS5 games don't magically get better for free.
For that pile of cash, you get a GPU that Sony claims is roughly 67% more powerful, plus some AI upscaling magic they're calling PSSR.
Translation: your games will look sharper and run smoother, assuming developers bother to patch them.
Which, historically, is a big fat "maybe." Here's the part that really got the comment sections frothing.
The $700 model doesn't include a disc drive.
So if you want to play your physical copies of anything, congrats, you're now at $780 before tax, before a second controller, before the stand that also costs extra because of course it does.
Sony is positioning this as a premium product for "enthusiasts," which is corporate-speak for "people who own an 8K TV and have strong feelings about ray tracing." The pitch is 60 frames per second at higher resolutions, or 120fps in some titles, with better ray tracing on top.
Also, most people can't tell the difference between 60 and 120fps without a side-by-side, and your $400 launch PS5 already hits 60 in a lot of stuff.
We're supposedly a few years from the PS6, so dropping nearly a grand on a mid-generation refresh feels like buying a slightly better rowboat right before the yacht shows up.
Early adopters will do it anyway, because that's what early adopters do.
To be fair, the hardware itself sounds genuinely capable.
If PSSR works as advertised, it could be a legit leap for folks with high-end displays.
And if you skipped the PS5 entirely and want the best version of Sony's library, this is technically the one to get.
A comparable gaming PC is still more expensive, sure, but it also does your taxes and runs Steam sales.
Meanwhile, Sony is charging luxury prices for a console that feels increasingly like a walled garden with a toll booth at every exit.
If big titles ship with meaningful Pro patches, the thing earns its keep.
If it's another PS4 Pro situation where half the library gets a lazy resolution bump and everyone moves on, then $700 buys you bragging rights and not much else.
Our take: skip the launch, wait for a bundle, and let the early adopters fund Sony's R&D like they always do.
Final Thoughts
Your wallet will thank you, and your backlog won't notice the difference anyway.