When people talk about console upgrades, it's usually about better graphics and features. But what's really under the hood? What makes the PS5 Pro the "most advanced PlayStation ever", as Sony confidently puts it? The Japanese reveal this today in an official PS5 Pro teardown - with insights directly from the Sony engineers who designed the device. Why so late? Good question! Perhaps they wanted to eliminate the teething troubles first before unashamedly presenting the innards.
The new "Blade" look
The PS5 Pro is visibly different from its predecessors from the outside. Three striking ventilation slots - affectionately known internally as "blades" - adorn the front of the housing. These not only serve as a stylish distinguishing feature, but also have a clear functional purpose: more air flow for more performance.
According to Shinya Tsuchida, the lead designer for the mechanical design of the PS5 Pro, the challenge was to improve thermal management without compromising the design. The result is a console that is slightly more compact than the original PS5 (2020) but still cools more - and is even quieter.
Sounds like a contradiction: More power = more cooling = more noise? Not with the PS5 Pro. The so-called "Louver" structure between the housing and main components ensures that fan noise is directed away from the player. This means that even under intensive load, the console remains acoustically restrained.
The new fan is larger than previous models, has optimized blades - and even tiny micro-blades between the main blades that make the airflow more efficient and quieter at the same time. A design that shows how seriously Sony takes the issue of immersion. After all, what's the point of playing a game in 4K with ray tracing if the fan sounds like a vacuum cleaner?
Screws against radiation: Electromagnetic shielding
A detail that is often overlooked, but is essential for modern electronics: electromagnetic shielding. Inside the PS5 Pro, numerous screws are attached to the metal housing of the circuit board - not out of fear of vibration, but to minimize electromagnetic interference. After all, the PS5 Pro shouldn't interfere with your Wi-Fi or steal reception from your smartphone.
The motherboard of the PS5 Pro is of course the centerpiece - bigger, denser, smarter. The SoC unit (System on a chip) is not only more powerful, but also more complex to connect. In order to maximize the speed of the memory connection, multi-layer circuit boards were used. While many traces are still visible on the current PS5, these disappear in deeper layers on the Pro - this reduces interference and increases the signal speed.
The RAM configuration has also been revised: Instead of 8 GDDR6 chips as in previous models, the PS5 Pro comes with nine memory modules. Eight of these are still fast GDDR6 modules for games and rendering. The ninth is a DDR5 module - responsible for system-related tasks such as the OS. The result: The PS5 Pro can separate gaming performance and system tasks cleanly - a clever relief that provides a performance boost, especially in graphics-intensive titles.
Liquid metal 2.0: Better contact, more stable cooling
Sony remains true to the use of liquid metal in the PS5 Pro - a technology that was already introduced with the original PS5. What is new, however, is that the contact surface between the chip and the heat sink has now been provided with extremely fine grooves to make the behavior of the liquid metal even more stable. No more leakage, as previously fearedno uneven distribution - simply efficient heat transfer at the highest level.
The PS5 Pro draws around 48 watts more power than its predecessor - and of course this needs to be properly regulated. The new power supply is larger, curved and perfectly integrated into the housing. A small detail on the side: the name "Sony Interactive Entertainment" is even engraved on the inside - not a feature that the user will ever see, but typical Japanese perfectionism in technology design.
Heatpipes and Wi-Fi 7: Prepared for the future and heat
The cooling construction consists of copper heat pipes, aluminum fins and a steel frame - a high-end heat management system that is otherwise more familiar from gaming PCs. The placement has been meticulously planned to dissipate heat from the SoC unit as quickly as possible.
Another feature of the future: Wi-Fi 7. The PS5 Pro is one of the first consoles to support this new standard - although it was not even finalized during development. Brave? Yes. Far-sighted? Also. The PS5 Pro is therefore ideally equipped for future requirements for online gaming, streaming and cloud features.
A console built like Swiss clockwork
Sony has turned practically every screw on the PS5 Pro - in the truest sense of the word. Better cooling, quieter operation, more power, clever board design and future-proof technology make the PS5 Pro a real advancement and not just a "PS5 with a boost".
Anyone who only thinks of a few extra frames when they hear "mid-gen upgrade" is underestimating the depth of the overhaul. The PS5 Pro isn't just faster - it's smarter. Numerous games now support the PS5 Pro, first and foremost Assassin's Creed Shadowswhich is an exceptional example of what hardware and Sony's PSSR can achieve together.
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