PlayStation 4 Goes Pro

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Sony details the long rumoured 4K-capable version of the PlayStation 4 console-- the PlayStation 4 Pro (formerly known as the "Neo"), an upgrade featuring an improved GPU and a boosted clock rate.

Playstation 4 ProThe PS4 Pro is designed for use with the latest TVs, and as such it outputs both 4K and HDR video. However it is not meant to be a next generation console, at least according to Sony. "PS4 Pro is not intended to blur the line between console generations," chief architect Mark Cerny says. "Instead, the vision is to take the PS4 experience to extraordinary new levels."

For the curious, the console carries an AMD "Jaguar" 8-core processor clocked at 2.1GHz together with a Radeon-based GPU able to push 4.2 TFLOPs of performance, 8GB GDDR5 memory and a 1TB HDD. The result should allow for games with higher resolutions (up to 2160p) and frame rates, as well as 4K video support and the 4K upscaling of previous PS4 titles.

Connectivity gets a slight improvement through 5GB  IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac wifi support and an extra USB 3.1 port, while the joypad gets USB data transfer. However, in a curious move Sony failed to put UHD Blu-ray support in the machine, since it insists customers are more likely to stream 4K video rather than buy discs.

Also confirmed by Sony is another recent PS4-related rumour-- the PS4 Slim is an actual machine after all. As the name suggests, this is simply a slimmer version of the PS4, with the only hardware improvement being the addition of 5GB IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac wifi support.

The PS4 Pro hits the market on November 2016, following the September launch of the PS4 Slim. How will the two consoles fare against Microsoft's similar Xbox strategy is anyone's guess, at least for now.

Go PlayStation 4 Pro

Go PlayStation 4