PS5 Pro rumored for 2023 — and it could be an 8K beast

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Microsoft is also reportedly working on an upgraded Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X

PS5 updates
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Update: This could be a clue to the PS5 Pro. 

From the moment we finished our PS5 review, we have bene chewing over whether Sony would create a PS5 Pro in a couple of years time to deliver an even more powerful games console. Well, it would appear that Sony might indeed be doing that, with the PS5 Pro reportedly being worked on and due for a release in 2023 or 2024 at the latest. 

This mind-generation tip comes from sources that have apparently tipped off YouTuber Moore’s Law is Dead, who speculates that Sony might attempt to target some form of 8K gaming in a console that could cost between $600 to $700. And the PS5 Pro is tipped to then arrive once the PS5 restock issues finally abate, which according to other reports won’t happen until 2023. 

How legit this source is isn’t clear. Moore’s Law is Dead has been a reasonably reliable tipster, but we’d take this with a pinch of salt. And Moore’s Law is Dead said he has no information on specs or performance targets, beyond speculation, but did claim Sony is certainly working on an upgraded PS5. 

So what could we expect from such a console? Well, come late 2023 or early 2024, there should be new AMD CPU and graphics architecture for Sony to tap into; the PS5 currently uses a Zen 2 based processor and RDNA 2 graphics from AMD on a custom chipset. 

Moore’s Law is Dead then speculated the PS5 Pro could be marketed as an 8K console to go hand-in-hand with Sony’s 8K TVs. The current PS5 does claim to deliver 8K output, but we've not seen any games run at that resolution. And even if Sony does deliver 8K games, we’d not expect them to be graphically intensive titles on the current PS5.

Equally, Moore’s Law is Dead doesn't believe Sony should target 8K gaming with the PS5 Pro, as there’s not a great deal of interest in such high-resolution gaming. We’d tend to agree, as we’d much rather faster frame rates than ultra high resolutions.

We’d speculate the PS5 Pro could be very much like the PS4 Pro in that it could use up-mixing and checkerboard rendering to produce an 8K image out of one that’s rendered at a lower resolution. We’ve seen Nvidia have a lot of success with its deep-learning super sampling (DLSS) tech on the likes of the GeForce RTX 3080.

Alongside the PS5 Pro alleged leak, Moore’s Law is Dead speculates that Sony could have a PS5 Slim ready for the end of 2022. This seems realistic to us, as Sony has previously made slim versions of its past PlayStation consoles, and the PS5 is ripe for some nips and tucks.

Xbox Series X Refresh and Xbox Series S upgrade

Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S

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Moore’s Law is Dead also claims to have been tipped off by a source he’s “very sure knows what they're talking about” that Microsoft is working on a refreshed Xbox Series S for late 2022 that’ll deliver a performance boost. 

Apparently, an upgraded Series S could use a 6-nanometer AMD APU (accelerated processing unit) with more cores and faster clock speeds. That would give such a console more power to better target 60 frames per second at 1080p or 1440p resolutions in upcoming games, say Starfield and Halo Infinite. As much as we like the Xbox Series S, especially as a bit of an Xbox Game Pass machine, more power would be appreciated. 

And the YouTuber also claims his sources have said there will be an upgraded Xbox Series X, but it won’t be Microsoft’s focus. The “Xbox Series X Refresh” is supposedly planned to arrive in 2023 or later. 

Given finding an Xbox Series X restock is an almighty pain, and there’s not exactly a mass of next-gen Xbox or PlayStation games, 2023 or later for boosted versions of the PS5 and Xbox Series X makes sense for us. After all, the current consoles aren’t yet a year old. 

Should you wait for such upgraded consoles? Well that’s tricky to answer, as we have no hard proof they are coming, and it’s not like you can easily buy the current models. If you have one of the best gaming PCs then you may as well wait, especially as you'll have access to the best Steam games to keep you occupied.

But if you’re an Xbox One or PS4 gamer who is itching for an upgrade, then we say go for the standard Xbox Series X and PS5, as both are stellar machines you won’t regret using. 

Roland Moore-Colyer
Roland Moore-Colyer

Roland Moore-Colyer a Managing Editor at Tom’s Guide with a focus on news, features and opinion articles. He often writes about gaming, phones, laptops and other bits of hardware; he’s also got an interest in cars. When not at his desk Roland can be found wandering around London, often with a look of curiosity on his face.