In the wake of this afternoon’s press conference, Sony has rolled out some specifics pertaining to its upcoming PlayStation 4 Pro console.
For starters, it has been confirmed that the Pro will offer “support for faster frame rates” for select titles. They have noted that consumers should look for packaging emblazoned with a “PS4 Pro Enhanced” icon. This makes it crystal-clear that only some titles will offer enhanced support, similar to the New Nintendo 3DS. Confirmed titles as of this writing include Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare and Uncharted 4.
Also worth noting is the 4K capabilities. Sony and Microsoft have both touted their 4K features, but it’s a bit misleading. Specifically, the PlayStation 4 Pro can support “4K streaming and 4K auto-upscaling for video content.” Much like the Xbox One S, this means that the support is only for 4K video, with games being aided by the HDR functionality. Some might be disappointed by this news, but frankly, it’s unrealistic to expect 4K gaming on a console anytime soon. It’s still a relatively recent innovation in PC gaming, so it won’t be on consoles for quite some time.
Some nitty-gritty details provided give us a look under the hood. Its main processor is an 8 core AMD Jaguar. In other words, it’s still the same class of processor the PS4s and Xbox Ones use. In line with this, it will still use an AMD Radeon-based graphics card, now running at 4.20 TFLOPS, compared to 1.84 TFLOPS seen in standard PS4 units. Both are low-power products, but the ones specifically used in consoles do have a bit more juice than the commercially available ones.
In addition, the Pro will offer a terabyte of storage capacity. This is significantly more than the Slim or vanilla PS4s, which still have 500 GB standard. The PlayStation Pro will also support 5GHz WiFi out of the box bringing it inline with more modern WiFi standards. It is worth noting that the PlayStation 4 Pro will not be increasing the RAM allotment compared to a standard PlayStation 4, shipping with only 8GB GDDR5.
Basically, the PlayStation 4 Pro is going to be Sony’s answer to the Xbox One S. 4K video, HDR, and improved gameplay/visuals on certain video games, much like that console. Of course, we’ll have to wait until the system’s actually on the market to see if it’s of comparable quality, as I’ve heard pretty solid things about the One S so far.
The PS4 Pro and the PS4 Slim were both pretty major announcements today, all told. While the press conference itself was full of non-speak, I’m definitely interested in the Pro, maybe even over the Slim. Despite not having any interest on dropping the money on a 4K TV anytime soon, the promised HDR functionality is enough to pique my curiosity.
