Sony finally pulled the wraps off the PlayStation 5 Pro, and the sticker price landed like a wet sock at a family barbecue.
Just a beefier GPU and a promise that your games will look slightly less blurry while you're getting sniped from across the map.
The headline feature is something Sony calls "PSSR," which is a fancy way of saying the console uses AI to upscale your games.
Think of it like reading glasses for your TV, except the reading glasses cost as much as a decent laptop.
If you already own a PS5, congratulations, you now own the "budget model" that came out four years ago and still runs everything just fine.
There are currently zero games that require a PS5 Pro.
You get a handful of enhanced titles like Spider-Man 2 and The Last of Us Part II that run at higher frame rates, plus a bunch of older games getting a patch that mostly amounts to "it looks a little sharper now." This is the same playbook Sony ran with the PS4 Pro, and we all quietly agreed to forget that console existed within eighteen months.
The math gets uglier when you factor in reality.
Want a disc drive so you can play your existing physical games or grab cheap used copies?
Want it to stand up vertically like the marketing photos?
Suddenly you're staring down the barrel of eight hundred and ten dollars for a console that plays the same games you can already play on the machine sitting under your TV.
Sony is clearly betting on the "enthusiast" crowd, which is a polite way of saying people with more disposable income than impulse control.
And look, if you've got a 120Hz OLED and a burning need to see individual pores on Kratos's forehead, knock yourself out.
But for the vast majority of normal humans who just want to play Madden and Elden Ring after work, the base PS5 is going to look exactly the same on your $400 Best Buy special.
We're supposedly deep into a console generation, with rumors of a PS6 floating around for 2027 or 2028.
Dropping seven hundred dollars on a mid-cycle refresh right now feels like buying a new car the same week the dealership announces next year's model.
You're paying a premium for a product that's already got one foot out the door.
And let's be honest about who this is really for.
It's for the guy on Reddit who benchmarks frame rates in his spare time and will absolutely tell you that 30fps is "literally unplayable." It's not for the parent buying a Christmas gift or the college kid splitting rent four ways.
Sony knows this, which is why they're not even pretending the Pro is the main SKU going forward. **The Verdict** If you don't own a PS5 yet and money is no object, sure, get the Pro.
Everyone else should probably wait for a sale, a bundle, or literally any other use of seven hundred dollars.
Final Thoughts
Your current console isn't broken just because Sony released a shinier one.