PS5 Pro is tipped for next year, but will Sony actually release a more powerful console?
Sony could release a PS5 Pro in 2024, according to a new report
The PS5 may be closing in on 40 million units sold and outpacing the PS4 sales life-to-date in the US, but Sony is rumored to be readying a more powerful console for 2024 – the PS5 Pro.
However, the source for this latest rumor isn’t exactly reliable as it comes from Insider Gaming – a site headed by notorious leaker Tom Henderson, who has previously stated that non-disclosure agreements shouldn’t be honored. Make of that what you will.
Henderson has made a lot of bold predictions in the past, many of which haven’t come to fruition. However, as they say, a broken clock is at least right twice a day.
The Shortcut Skinny: PS5 Pro rumor
😲 A PS5 Pro is “100% in development” according to Insider Gaming
📆 It’s tipped to release towards the end of 2024
🙃 However, the site also says “It could be canceled at any given time”
🤔 Insider Gaming believes we’ll see five new pieces of PlayStation hardware
Henderson first reported that a PS5 Pro was in development back in March and now says that “Insider Gaming can report with a 100% degree of certainty that the PlayStation 5 Pro is currently in development”.
But before you get too excited, Henderson also caveats his latest leak by saying “…the PlayStation 5 Pro could be canceled at any given time”. Talk about covering all your bases.
Now, there’s no doubt in mind that Sony is indeed working on a mid-generation refresh of the PlayStation 5. The PS4 Pro was a great success and allowed Sony to increase the lifespan of its console and deliver 4K gaming, something that wasn’t possible on the standard console. It’s also common practice for console manufacturers to begin working on a system successor immediately after launch.
The timing of a 2024 release also lines up with the PS4 Pro hitting shelves three years after the PlayStation 4 launched. However, there’s no guarantee Sony will do the same this time around.
It seems premature for Sony to release a PS5 Pro anytime soon, as the PlayStation 5 is only starting to hit its stride now that supply issues have come to an end. More worryingly for Sony, it’s struggling to shift software, not hardware at the moment. When the real money lies in subscriptions and game sales, you can be certain Sony will want to address this issue before it rolls out more expensive hardware for gamers to buy.
Sony also has the PSVR 2 to support, which hasn’t achieved the level of success Sony had first predicted. In fact, it wasn’t even mentioned in the company’s latest earnings report and I went as far as to speculate whether PSVR 2 is already dead.
So I’m not convinced by the latest PS5 Pro rumor, then, but Insider Gaming also states that we’ll see at least four more new pieces of PlayStation hardware released before the end of 2024.
One piece of hardware that is definitely coming soon (and has been officially announced) is Project Leonardo, which is expected to release at the end of this year according to Henderson’s sources.
Leonardo is an all-in-one PS5 accessibility controller that aims to remove the physical barriers that the regular DualSense controller presents and should help those with disabilities play the best PS5 games more easily and comfortably.
Next on the rumor mill docket is a new PS5 console that includes a detachable disc drive that Henderson says will release in September 2023. Insider Gaming shared that Sony was apparently working on a modular-style console in September last year, but nothing has been announced so far.
A new Sony patent suggests a PlayStation 5 with a detachable disc dive could be coming, however, but it’s worth bearing in mind that hundreds of patents never see the light of day.
Henderson also believes new audio hardware and a PlayStation handheld are coming. The new audio hardware is dubbed Project Nomad and Project Voyager, a pair of wireless earbuds and a new wireless headset. They’re expected to release by the end of March 2024, though there’s no indication of price or a firm release date.
In terms of the PlayStation handheld, Henderson says Sony is set to release a device that uses Remote Play with the PS5, a will let you stream games up to 1080p and 60fps. It isn’t a successor to the Vita then, but something more akin to the Logitech G Cloud Gaming Handheld we saw last year. It’s tipped to release towards the end of this year.
If my skepticism wasn’t already apparent, I can only really envision Sony releasing Project Leonardo and perhaps a cheap handheld that’s specifically designed for Remote Play. Sony has teamed up with Backbone in the past to make a PS5-style mobile controller, but there’s nothing to stop it from making its own handheld that includes haptic feedback and adaptive triggers.
As for the PS5 Pro, again I do believe it’s in the works, though I think it would be a mistake if Sony released it in 2024. I also strongly believe a PS6 is in development, along with a successor to the Nintendo Switch. You heard it here first, folks.