At the PlayStation meeting in New York it was finally revealed, the PS4 PRO which was code-named the PS4 NEO. SONY’s new 4K ready console to sit alongside the regular and Slim PS4 will launch on November 10th 2016 for 399$ for the North American, Europe and Japanese markets and will feature a 1TB hard drive initially.
The New Upgraded console’s design consists of three layers of blocks which symbolizes the powerful presence of the PS4 PRO and its solid feel according to the Official press release. It will also feature the PlayStation family symbol sporting a mirror finish on the top of the console as well as three USB ports, two in the front and one on the back for hooking up the PlayStation VR peripheral or other such devices.
The New console is touted to deliver 1080p resolution for all its games as well as a much stable and in most cases higher frame-rates. The PS4 PRO’s Beefed up GPU is also said to consist of elements from AMD’S new Polaris tech which was rumored earlier, the PS4 PRO according to Sony:
“By boosting the performance and capability of the system architecture including the CPU and GPU, PS4 Pro allows games to deliver graphics with far more detail and unprecedented visual precision. Users with 4K TVs will be able to enjoy all PS4 titles in higher quality, such as 4K quality [outputted by graphic rendering or up-scaled] resolution and faster or more stable frame rates. In addition, PS4 Pro supports 4K video playback to deliver 4K streaming video services such as Netflix and YouTube
HDTV owners will also be able to enjoy the enhanced gameplay experiences on PS4 Pro, as the system delivers 1080p resolution for all PS4 games and higher or more stable frame rates for some supported titles.
Furthermore, looking ahead to the future of imaging technology, all PS4 systems including PS4 Pro will support HDR imaging technology [through a system update next week], which enables the reproduction of brightness and darkness while realizing a much wider range of colors. Users who own an HDR-compatible TV will be able to enjoy supported games and other entertainment content with visuals that are more realistic, strikingly vivid and truer to the way the human eye sees the real world”
Sony has said that every PS4 game will run on all PS4 systems including the new PS4 PRO as well as sharing the same interface and community functions across all iterations of the PS4 platform. One downside is that the New console will not be supporting 4K Blu-ray unlike the Xbox One slim, maybe they add the feature at a later date via Firmware but for now it seems unlikely. As we get closer to the November 10th launch, more and more first and third party titles shall be announced.
In closing I would like to say that the New console does in fact look promising but I am satisfied with my 2014 PS4 model currently, speaking of which, all the prior models of the PS4 before the PS4 Slim which comes out on September 15th 2016 will be phased out so if I were someone who loved the look of the original model then I would run off and grab it before it happens or there is always Ebay.
Sony will also release a new Firmware update next week slated to include High Dynamic Range (HDR) support across all PlayStation 4 platforms.
The PS4 PRO rolls out on November 10th 2016 for 399$, not too shabby when you consider the forward compatible capabilities, 4K output and smoother frame-rates that are designed for the hardcore gamer in mind.