{"id":1445,"date":"2016-11-08T11:59:02","date_gmt":"2016-11-08T10:59:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.senses.se\/en\/review-playstation-4-pro-worth-the-upgrade\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T08:45:33","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T07:45:33","slug":"review-playstation-4-pro-worth-the-upgrade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.senses.se\/en\/review-playstation-4-pro-worth-the-upgrade\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Playstation 4 Pro – worth an upgrade?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On November 10, Sony releases its “mid-generation” upgrade to the Playstation 4, named the Playstation 4 Pro. What actually separates this new machine from the original PS4, and is it worth buying or upgrading to?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note:<\/span> This article will be updated continuously over the coming weeks with new game releases that support PS4 Pro and our thoughts on them.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is nice to be right. Earlier this year, we wrote a column<\/a> about how the old paradigm in the console world must change, just as it long has for PCs, home computers, and mobile phones. When Sony discussed the PS4 with us at E3 in Los Angeles in the summer of 2013, they said they expected a “ten-year lifecycle” for their (then) upcoming Playstation 4<\/strong>. We took that statement with a\u2014to say the least\u2014large grain of salt. Ten years is an infinitely<\/em> long time in the world of technology. It feels like Apple’s iPhone has been with us forever, but even it hasn’t reached ten years yet (it will next year, 2017). The difference between the first iPhone<\/strong> presented by Steve Jobs in 2007 and the current iPhone 7<\/strong> is night and day. No one reacts today to users replacing their smartphone every year\u2014or at least every other year. And at the risk of sounding like a product of a consumerist society, why should we run the same consoles for so much longer? To be generous, we can interpret Sony’s 2013 statement in hindsight as meaning that the format<\/em> PS4 would remain for ten years, while they secretly planned to break a long and sacred tradition: upgrading an existing console format in the middle of a generation’s lifecycle. Looking at the successful PS3 and Xbox 360, they enjoyed the peak of their lifespan for exactly six to seven years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Playstation<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What is PS4 Pro?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The new PS4\u2014which for a while went under the codename PS4<\/strong> Neo<\/strong> but has now officially been named Playstation 4 Pro<\/strong> (PS4 Pro)<\/strong>)\u2014 <\/strong>is a souped-up version of the exact same x86 architecture as the old PS4 (a requirement for them to be 100% compatible with each other). The updates consist of slightly faster clock speeds<\/strong> on the eight Jaguar processors that make up the CPU (2.1GHz instead of 1.6GHz, approx. 30% increase), twice as powerful graphics processor<\/strong> (2.3x GPU, based on AMD Polaris) designed to handle 4K and HDR, and slightly faster and smarter memory management<\/strong> (512 MB more usable memory and approx. 24% more bandwidth, though still 8 GB total). PS4 Pro supports the faster Wi-Fi standard 802.11ac, but we recommend connecting via Ethernet cable for the fastest and most reliable connection (and there are, after all, a bunch of large patches to download). We also get USB 3.1 support in the ports, and finally, the base model offers a 1TB hard drive as standard and a SATA3 connection, which is very welcome and opens up for upgrades with even larger and faster hard drives (we will update the article on upgrading the hard drive in your PS4<\/a> shortly). Just like its predecessors, however, the PS4 Pro does not support external hard drives connected via USB for game installations, which is a real shame as it is the simplest and most convenient way to get more storage capacity without having to open the machine (and it works fine for the competition, doesn’t it?)<\/del> UPDATE:<\/span> With firmware 4.50, PS4 Pro gains support for both external hard drives up to 8TB as well as boost mode<\/a>, which can improve performance in all old PS4 games, even without a patch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

That PS4 Pro and the original PS4<\/strong> (or PS4 Slim<\/strong>, which has now replaced the base model) must be fully compatible with each other was a requirement from Sony and an understandable one. They didn’t want to suddenly abandon 40 million PS4 users after three years and sneak out some kind of Playstation 5<\/strong>. At the same time, this requirement brings a fairly significant glass ceiling for what PS4 Pro is and can become, since Sony promised not to release any exclusive games for PS4 Pro that don’t also work on the original machine from 2013, which then becomes the lowest common denominator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4K and HDR provide better-looking games – but there’s a catch…<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The big news with PS4 Pro is that “true” 4K gaming is finally coming to the console world! Combined with 10-bit support for HDR, this means a major visual boost for games that support the technologies (take the opportunity to read our article with everything you need to know about 4K, HDR, and which TV you should buy<\/a><\/em>). There will be both new games and patches for already released games that allow us to enjoy a resolution that is theoretically up to four times as high, faster frame rates, and an expanded color palette (thanks to HDR – High Dynamic Range). Note that several media outlets report incorrectly on HDR support for PS4: HDR support is coming to all<\/em> PS4 models (even the oldest one) as of firmware 4.0 or later, and the first existing games to support this through patches available by November 10 at the latest include Uncharted 4<\/strong><\/a>, Rise of The Tomb Raider<\/strong> <\/a>and The Last of Us: Remastered<\/a> <\/strong>(which received its HDR and 4K patch as early as Nov 1). This requires<\/em> however that you have a 4K and\/or HDR compatible display (TV or projector) to take advantage of the improvements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Example video. Don’t forget to switch to 4K mode on the gear icon in the bottom right corner and watch in full screen)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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