Sony PS5 Pro to feature improved ray tracing, more powerful GPU: report

The Trinity codename

• The Sony PlayStation 5 Pro has the codename 'Trinity' internally, according to a report by The Verge. 
• Citing sources familiar with the company's plans, the report notes that Sony has asked developers to make their games compatible with the PS5 Pro.
• "Trinity is a high-end version of PlayStation 5," reads one of the documents outlining PS5 Pro.
• The Japanese company might continue to sell the standard PS5 even after the launch of the PS5 Pro.

PS5 Pro hardware

• PlayStation 5 Pro could ship with a more "powerful GPU and a slightly faster CPU mode."
• The report notes that Sony expects GPU rendering on the Pro model to be "about 45 percent faster than the standard PS5. 
• According to the document outlining PS5 Pro, the gaming console will use a "more powerful ray tracing architecture," with three times the speed compared to the regular PS5.
• While the GPU is seeing improvements, the CPU is expected to remain the same as the standard model but with a new mode that offers a higher clock speed: 3.85GHz as per the document for developers. This is around 10 percent more than the regular PS5.
• Interestingly, developers will have the option to pick between the standard mode (3.5GHz) or the high CPU frequency mode (3.85GHz).
• More power is allocated to the CPU in the new high-frequency mode for the PS5 Pro. This means slightly less power to the GPU, which is downclocked by around 1.5 percent.  Sony says that this will result in roughly 1 percent lower performance.
• The standard PS5 memory runs at 448GB/s but the PS5 Pro will see a bump up by 28 percent to 576GB/s. Games will now have access to an additional 1.2GB of system memory on the PS5 Pro.

PS5 Pro for Developers

It appears that Sony is backing developers to implement features like 'Ray Tracing' on their games with the PS5 Pro. In return, these games can use the "Trinity Enhanced" label provided they offer "significant enhancements." Sony also expects game developers to have a single package that supports both the PS5 and PS5 Pro. They can order the PS5 Pro test kits for testing. Every game submitted to certification in August is required to be compatible with the new version of PS5.

PS5 Pro launch timeline

While there is no official timeline confirmation from Sony, leaks and reports are suggesting the PS5 Pro gaming console might debut in the latter part of the year. There are chances we might see a range of existing games with enhancements mentioned above at the time of the PS5 Pro launch.