Former Xbox Exec: Don’t Expect a PlayStation 5 Pro or Xbox Series X-2

[Tsing]

Image: Sony



Thinking of skipping the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X for their mid-gen refreshes? Don’t bother, because there may not be one this time around. Writing on the ResetEra forums, Xbox executive Albert Penello pointed out that the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X were primarily created in response to the surging popularity of 4K displays, but with mainstream adoption of 8K being many years away, the likelihood for a PlayStation 5 Pro or Xbox Series X-2 could be slim to none.



“4K was becoming a mainstream resolution for PC and TV’s, and the the base consoles were designed around driving 1080p (or less) output,” explained Penello. “When you have a set that requires 4x the performance just to drive 4x the pixels, then you eat up all the performance...

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[Brian_B]

If TFLOPS becomes a thing and PS5 is seen as having a significant deficit compared to XB1SXBASJDASD ... then I would utterly expect Sony to push a bump in specs as a PS5 Pro, around the same time they do the inevitable PS5 Slim respin.

Regardless of what MS is saying now... I don't necessarily believe it.

 

[Nanobot]

Yep, sounds like they are really pushing for holiday sales to rescue them during this economy. Not gonna happen though with the constant open-shut down-open-shut down economy that is now here to stay. Plus toss in the higher prices for games and I expect this to be one of the worst, if not THE worst, selling generation of consoles ever.

 

[Burticus]

Never say never. Who knows what future tech awaits in 3-4 years for a "pro" type model refresh.

 

[DrezKill]

No mid-generation refreshes? I don't believe that for a second. Not that it affects me, since I always wait until late in a generation (or even after the generation) to buy consoles, even before they started doing mid-gen refreshes. I still wait for prices to come down, improvements in newer hardware revisions, and for the consoles' libraries to get fleshed out over the generation.

 

[SeymourGore]

I'm sure there will still be a Slim-style refresh for both consoles at some point, though I do think Penello makes sense about a PS4 Pro or XboneX-style performance boost. The PS4 Pro and XboneX did seem like a necessity with the quick emergence of 4K.

With that said, these consoles seem to scale well (probably a result of their similar architecture and B/C), so a higher tier refresh down the road seems simple enough.