Sony finally pulled the curtain back on the PS5 Pro this week, and the internet responded with the emotional warmth of a group chat getting a surprise Venmo request.
No disc drive included, no vertical stand, and a spec sheet that reads like someone whispering "trust us, it's better" through a door.
For the uninitiated, the PS5 Pro is Sony's mid-generation refresh, the same play it ran with the PS4 Pro back in 2016.
The pitch this time is a beefier GPU, "advanced ray tracing," and something called PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution — an AI upscaler that's supposed to make your games look sharper without tanking the frame rate.
The console is also 67% more powerful in raw GPU terms, which sounds impressive until you remember your TV from 2019 is doing most of the heavy lifting anyway.
The base PS5 with a disc drive costs $500.
If you want a disc drive on your $700 console, that's another $80.
So the "premium" experience lands somewhere near $810 before you've bought a single game.
That's not a console purchase, that's a small home renovation.
Sony's defenders will tell you this is for the "enthusiast" crowd, the people who own an OLED panel and can actually tell the difference between 60 and 120 frames per second.
But here's the thing about enthusiasts — they already bought a PS5 in 2020.
Asking them to drop another mortgage payment for a marginal visual bump is a bold strategy.
It's like Apple releasing a slightly shinier iPhone and calling it courage.
We've seen this movie, and the sequel is usually just a longer runtime.
We're supposedly three-ish years from the PS6, assuming Sony follows its usual seven-year cycle.
So you're paying a premium for a stopgap console that'll be yesterday's hardware before your DualSense controller's sticks start drifting.
Retailers are already listing preorders, and scalpers are sharpening their bots as we speak.
If history is any guide, the first wave will sell out in minutes, then show up on eBay for $1,200 with a stock photo and a seller named something like "DefinitelyNotABot_88." Meanwhile, the actual gamers who just want to play Spider-Man with slightly better lighting will be left refreshing Best Buy at 3 a.m. like it's a Supreme drop. ## The Verdict Look, the PS5 Pro isn't a bad machine.
It's just a machine built for a customer who may not actually exist in large enough numbers to justify the price tag.
If you've got a 4K 120Hz TV, a disposable income, and a deep need to see individual pores on Kratos's forehead, knock yourself out.
Everyone else should probably wait for a sale, a bundle, or the PS6.
Final Thoughts
Sony's betting you won't — and honestly, they're probably right, which is the most annoying part.