Sony has announced a Technical Presentation that will stream on Sept. 9. This isn’t a State of Play and will only be nine minutes long. With all this information in hand, it certainly sounds like we’re getting information on an upcoming PS5 Pro model. We don’t exactly know what to expect, but we do have a wishlist of things we hope it includes.
PS3 Backwards Compatibility
In February, Sony filed a new patent related to Backward Compatibility Testing. Though the pattern doesn’t directly mention the PS3, it seems to hint at it. After all, Sony is sorely lacking compared to the Xbox’s extensive backward compatibility features. Due to this patent, though, it is entirely possible a PS5 Pro could feature PS3 compatibility on a hardware level.
While it is a little late, giving players a way to play all PS3 (or older) games would be a heavy driving force for the PS5 Pro. Considering all the PS4 players who have yet to make the switch, a surprise reveal of backward compatibility would be the perfect push.
Astro Bot Pack-In Game
When the PlayStation 5 first launched, all consoles came with Astro’s Playroom pre-installed. Assuming the PS5 Pro will come out around December, that’s the perfect time to also give purchasers instant access to the new Astro Bot. Selling an excellent duology with the console is better than any bundle PlayStation might offer down the line.
Plus, players are going crazy over Astro Bot, so this might just draw a few staunch Xbox gamers over to the new system. While there might be a few complaints regarding the timing of new console release and the release of Astro Bot, but I think this idea works perfectly.
Improved Hard Drive Storage Size
Before any possible expansion, the PS5 comes with a base amount of 825 GB of storage space. However, the system partitions some of this, leaving around 667 GB available for games and applications. Considering the PS4 Pro started with 1 TB as stock, it was a little shocking the stronger console wasn’t improved from the best PS4 version.
For a truly “Pro” version of the PS5, it will need to have at least 2 TB available and the same options for NVMe storage expansion. With games only getting bigger, this is a rather obvious requirement.
More Easily Accessible USB Ports
In total, the PS5 has three USB-A ports and one USB-C port. The recently released PSVR2 takes up the singular front USB-C port, and then there’s the matter of the two Sense controllers that each drain at the same rate. With all that and keeping the usual DualSense charged? There are not enough ports for everything that needs them.
It would be nice to, at the very least, double the amount of front-facing USB ports available with the PS5 Pro to make a difference in charging because the rear ports are a pain to access regularly.
Less Goofy Appearance
I love my PS5, I truly do, but this console is goofy looking. I’m not saying make it a boring rectangle like the Xbox Series X, but maybe something a little more discreet on a shelf that doesn’t look like Seto Kaiba from Yu-Gi-Oh. For instance, every version of the PS4 was nice and sleek, so a return to that would be visually pleasing.
I appreciate that the form factor helps with airflow, but maybe this time, Sony can achieve that with something that doesn’t look quite as ridiculous.
Game Folders
While this is a little more OS-based, the fact that we don’t have folders yet after they have been part of the PS4 for years is a bit unusual. However, folders didn’t arrive for the PS4 until a couple of months before the PS4 Pro launched, so there’s some precedence.
With there being so many big games released for the PS5, there needs to be a way to keep them all in one place and not have to keep going back to the library when some get pushed out of the home screen.
Only One Version
While it was nice that the PS5 launched with a digital-only edition, it made the market to find/purchase one a little more difficult. As this is the “Pro” model, it should only have one version with a disc drive. This way, if there is once again a supply issue, the stock isn’t split between two separate console types.
This will also surely help with production and potentially mean there might be less of an issue than there was when the new generation began. Though PlayStation later released a detachable disc drive for the digital versions, I would prefer the PS5 Pro consoles to have a disc drive.
Simultaneous Downloads
This is another OS-related issue that makes even less sense than folders. The PS4 allows more than one thing to be downloaded at a time, but the PS5 has entirely locked it down to one. While it would be understandable when downloading huge games at once, many times, I have just wanted to download a handful of smaller games, and they take more time as a batch than they should.
A PS5 should come with a hefty update (including folders) that fixes the issue with download bottlenecking that it shouldn’t really even have. If the PS4 could do it, why can’t the definitively stronger hardware?
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