PS5 Pro not happening, says former Xbox executive

Former Xbox executive Albert Penello has disclosed reasons he believes PS5 Pro and a mid-gen Xbox Series X are likely not going to happen.

Mid-gen consoles have been released for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, but it seems they will be “less necessary” for the incoming platforms.

Sony had previously hinted at chances that a PS5 Pro could be developed along the way to “catch up with rapid development of technology.” Instead, Microsoft aims to release a lower specced next-gen console right upon day one to make the jump more affordable for its customers.

Penello believes this as “4K was becoming a mainstream resolution for PC and TV’s, and the base consoles were designed around driving 1080p (or less) output.”

“I think it’s unlikely we’ll see 8K TV’s go mainstream in the same way we saw 4K go mainstream – we’re more likely to see improvements in NITS (to drive better HDR) or better framerates to support greater than 60fps on TV’s,” which is something that PS5 and Xbox Series X “should easily support.”

On top of that, mid-gen upgrades are said to be “less financially and technically viable,” as “I don’t see a 20/24 tflop machine being affordable in a console form factor even in 3 years.”

“The node change from 7nm to 5nm or 3 nm is going to be cost prohibitive and just mathematically unless they hit 3nm you’re only going to see a 30% reduction in size,” Penello added, “but you’re doubling the tflops so the chip has to grow.”

PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X are both releasing by Holiday 2020. As PS4 and Xbox One’s lifecycles have been 7-year long, it seems there’s still much time to see if the technological advancements will require mid-gen models in the future.