PS5 Pro Has Important New Feature That Sony Hasn’t Mentioned Yet

Leaked previews have revealed that the upcoming PlayStation 5 Pro possesses an important upgrade that Sony hasn’t mentioned anywhere in the console’s marketing. While the PS5 Pro’s public launch is slated for next week, certain retailers have prematurely shipped it to a handful of customers, through whom it’s been discovered that the console’s CMOS battery sees a nifty improvement over the base PS5.

The PS5 Pro already boasts an extensive list of upgrades compared to the vanilla PS5, with the headliners being a 67% larger GPU, 10% higher CPU clock speeds, double to triple the ray tracing performance, and a brand-new AI-driven image upscaler dubbed PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution. The $700 price tag has been quite contentious, though, and so has the recently-discovered incompatibility of existing PS5 Slim console covers with the PS5 Pro. Still, there’s a laundry list of enhancements on the PS5 Pro, and a new one has been unearthed.

Back in 2021, there was a lot of talk surrounding the PS5’s CMOS battery, a crucial hardware component that helps the system keep track of time and retain related information, even when switched off. Like all batteries, CMOS cells have limited lifespans of up to 10 years and once they die, they could render the PS5 unplayable. Thankfully, Sony identified and fixed this issue in a PS5 firmware update, and it seems the company has paid special attention to the CMOS battery in the PS5 Pro as well. An early PS5 Pro adopter recently shared an image showing that the console has a slot to access the CMOS battery right below the faceplate.

PS5 Pro Offers a Far More Accessible CMOS Battery

Compared to the regular PS5 where the CMOS battery can only be accessed via the motherboard, the PS5 Pro’s dedicated slot makes it far easier to replace the battery if need be. This feature was last seen on the Nintendo Wii and Wii U consoles and bodes well for the PS5 Pro’s preservation and repairability down the line. Interestingly, Sony didn’t mention this CMOS battery slot alongside the PS5 Pro’s numerous upgrades and features, likely because it’s a deep-cut specification that would appeal only to a niche subset of prospective buyers.

Potential mainstream appeal aside, it’s great to see Sony enlarging its focus on hardware repairability and preservation with the PS5 Pro. On the flip side, the lack of an included disc drive with the PS5 Pro sends the opposite message, even more so when attaching a separately-purchased disc drive to the console requires an internet connection. Hopefully, Sony is cognizant of this glaring issue with game preservation and has a better modular disc drive system in the works for future PlayStation consoles.

PlayStation 5 Pro

With the PlayStation®5 Pro console, the world’s greatest game creators can enhance their games with incredible features like advanced ray tracing, super sharp image clarity for your 4K TV, and high frame rate gameplay. That means you get to play PS5® games with the most impressive visuals ever possible on a PlayStation® console.

PS5® Pro is an all-digital console with no disc drive. Sign into your account for PlayStation™Network and go to PlayStation™Store to buy and download games. You can also add a Disc Drive to your PS5® Pro console if you would like to play PS5 or PS4 games on Blu-ray™ Disc, or if you want to watch movies and shows on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray™ Discs, Blu-ray™ Discs, and DVDs.

Brand

Sony PlayStation

Storage

2TB SSD

VR Support

PlayStation VR2

Resolution

Up to 8K

App Store

PlayStation Store

Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi 7

Ports

Power In, Ethernet, HDMI 2.1, 2x USB Type-A, 2x USB Type-C

HDR Support

Yes

Original Release Date

November 7, 2024

Original MSRP (USD)

$699.99

Dimensions

10.3 x 35.8 cm

Processor

AMD Ryzen Zen 2 (8 cores, 16 threads, 3.5GHz)

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