The original PlayStation 5 launched in November 2020, kicking off the current generation of gaming consoles. Three years later came 2023's Slim model, with the same performance but a slight increase in storage. Now, four years after the original PS5 debuted, we get the first real step forward with the PlayStation 5 Pro. The PS5 Pro, available Nov. 7 for $700 (£700, AU$1,200), enables higher graphical fidelity and improved ray tracing at much higher and smoother frame rates than the original. It's the most powerful gaming console on the market, but it's also the most expensive. And that price doesn't even get you a vertical stand ($30, sold separately). If you want to play physical PS5 games, you'll need to pick up Sony's external disc drive (another $80). At $200 to $300 more than a base PS5, getting the Pro today is sort of like opting for a pricier graphics processor to get better visuals in a desktop PC. But is it worth the expense? To find out, I compared the PS5 Pro directly with its older siblings through a variety of games, including Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered, Spider-Man 2 and Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart. In scene after scene, I saw improved details with no sacrifice in smoothness, a combination that makes the PS5 Pro the highest-performance game console I've ever tested. Yes, it's expensive, but for gamers who want the best experience, it could be worth the price.PlayStation 5 Pro design is familiar, but with racing stripesThe PS5 Pro takes a lot of design cues from last year's Slim model, which itself is a smaller console that kept the original PS5's flared plastic look. It has the same four exterior panel design, but unfortunately the panels are ever-so-slightly different in size. This means that if you bought any of PlayStation's nice color panels to customize your device, they won't fit on the new one. It also uses the exact same external disc drive, which clips to the side like with the PS5 Slim consoles. Unlike the last two PS5 models, there is only one version of the PS5 Pro -- the digital-only option. In previous models, you could spend $50 to $100 more for a console that would read physical discs. Now, if you want your new PS5 Pro to have that functionality, you need the $80 disc drive released last year. However, if you have a Slim model and have been using an external drive, that same drive will work in your new machine.The original PlayStation 5 launched in November 2020, kicking off the current generation of gaming consoles. Three years later came 2023's Slim model, with the same performance but a slight increase in storage. Now, four years after the original PS5 debuted, we get the first real step forward with the PlayStation 5 Pro. The PS5 Pro, available Nov. 7 for $700 (£700, AU$1,200), enables higher graphical fidelity and improved ray tracing at much higher and smoother frame rates than the original. It's the most powerful gaming console on the market, but it's also the most expensive. And that price doesn't even get you a vertical stand ($30, sold separately). If you want to play physical PS5 games, you'll need to pick up Sony's external disc drive (another $80). 
At $200 to $300 more than a base PS5, getting the Pro today is sort of like opting for a pricier graphics processor to get better visuals in a desktop PC. But is it worth the expense? To find out, I compared the PS5 Pro directly with its older siblings through a variety of games, including Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered, Spider-Man 2 and Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart. In scene after scene, I saw improved details with no sacrifice in smoothness, a combination that makes the PS5 Pro the highest-performance game console I've ever tested. Yes, it's expensive, but for gamers who want the best experience, it could be worth the price.PlayStation 5 Pro design is familiar, but with racing stripesThe PS5 Pro takes a lot of design cues from last year's Slim model, which itself is a smaller console that kept the original PS5's flared plastic look. It has the same four exterior panel design, but unfortunately the panels are ever-so-slightly different in size. This means that if you bought any of PlayStation's nice color panels to customize your device, they won't fit on the new one. It also uses the exact same external disc drive, which clips to the side like with the PS5 Slim consoles. Unlike the last two PS5 models, there is only one version of the PS5 Pro -- the digital-only option. In previous models, you could spend $50 to $100 more for a console that would read physical discs. Now, if you want your new PS5 Pro to have that functionality, you need the $80 disc drive released last year. However, if you have a Slim model and have been using an external drive, that same drive will work in your new machine.The PlayStation 5 Pro also gets a bit bigger in size, sitting in between the original and Slim models in dimensions. And now it has these racing stripe-like fins on the side between the top and bottom plastic panels that do vent a bit of the air. Like the Slim, it has two USB-C ports on the front and two standard USB-A ports on the back. It also can be positioned horizontally or vertically. It comes with two little plastic feet to lay it flat, but if you want it to stand upright, you'll need to purchase that same $30 stand separately. You can still install your own solid-state drive, but Sony has doubled the internal storage to 2 terabytes this time around. It also now supports Wi-Fi 7, the latest standard.PS5 Pro has upgraded graphics, ray-tracing and AI upscalingThere are three main features that power the PlayStation 5 Pro's improved graphics and performance. The first is the upgraded GPU. PlayStation states it includes 67% more compute units and 28% faster memory compared with a standard PS5. These enable it to render gameplay 45% faster.The second feature is advanced ray tracing that allows games to utilize more dynamic reflections and realistic lighting. Put simply, if you see parts of the environment accurately reflected in water, windows or mirrors, that's ray tracing at work. PlayStation states that it can now cast rays at double, and sometimes triple, the speeds of the current PS5. The last key feature is AI upscaling, which Sony calls PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution. This is a machine learning-based technology that provides higher image clarity. It's primarily used to make games look sharper at higher resolution, and it works automatically.