The goal of the pro was to have zero compatibility issues with the original ps4. They didn't even release boost mode until months later, the console had to be able to run at exactly the same specs as the base ps4.

The pro was made to make a profit from day 1 on a much smaller scale, while the base ps4 shad the luxury of counting on several guaranteed game sales and accesories to break even, as well as getting the volume to quickly make mass production cheaper. If the pro was a launch console now it could probably have started at 349 or even 299. Ofcourse at this point in the gen it's about making a profit on the hardware.

Scorpio is in the same boat and MS is pushing the premium aspect even more than Sony. As a launch console it could certainly be 399, as a profitable niche product, 499. PS5 has the luxury again to not be tied down with HW compatibility or having to make a profit per unit sold from day 1.

If any, Scorpio could make Sony launch PS5 even later, to be totally sure to outperform it by a large and well perceivable margin without costing an arm and a leg.
And devs will use next gen base model HW power as completely as they can as soon as they learn to do it, while OTOH HW power of premium mid-gen console models always ends up being underused, as games must still run on base models too.
Surely premium powerful models make a minority of users very happy, and the platform look more up-to-date, but I wouldn't expect miracles.

If you look at my previous post you will see how this works.

Think of hardware manufacturing as generations of tech. For the sake of this exacmple, lets call PS4/XB1 (28nm fabrication) gen 1 and call the PS4pro/Scorpio (14/16nm) gen 2.

The scorpio will cost more than the PS4pro, because its using more expensive gen 2 components than the PS4pro is using. But it will still remain in a similar power band because its still gen 2. Kinda like how the PS4 had around a 50% more powerful GPU than the XB1 even though they are both gen 1 hardware. Though that was due to the design decisions MS made, opting for DDR3 ram and on chip memory which took up space on the die as opposed to PS4 using GDDr5 and no onchip memory which gave them more space to add in a bigger GPU in a similiarly sized die.  In this case the scorpio is more powerful not just because theyhave used more of the similar type pf ram but also a more expensive cooling solution to ensure they can run their APU (which again is still very similar) at higher clocks than the PS4pro APU.

Fun fact? The PS4 GPU runs at ~900Mhz. If sony had made the box even bigger, and used a more expensive cooling solution, they could have got the same GPU running at 1.2Ghz and with a resultant power of around 5.8TF in the exact same APU that we have now in the Ps4pro. But there are downsides to this approach. Not every chip that comes off the line would be ableto run at the upper limit of theiir frequency band. But sony would have paid for them anyway. Which means their will be a lot of dropped chips. Which results in the per unit cost of each chip going up. Another reason why the scorpio will be more expensive, though possibly one allevated by waiting a year and alowing 16nm fabrication to become more reliable.

Gen 3 hardware (7nm) will mean another significant jump in pwoer. But this time not just on the GPu side but also on the CPU side. And improvements in memory configuartion and architecture and veen storage solutions taht we don't have in the gen 2 iterations which would amount to an all round way more powerful system.

If MS waits a year to release their XB2 after sony has released their PS5? The issue with that is that its still going to  be using gen 3 hardware so it will not be distinguishably more powerful tahn the PS5.

I'm actually not so sure the PS5 will be $399. I say that simply because a dollar in 2019 (when I think the PS5 will launch) will be worth a good bit less than a dollar in 2013. I wouldn't be surprised at all to see the PS5 launch at $449.

But yeah, it's going to be way more powerful than the Scorpio for quite a few reasons. Not least of which because it's going to be using Vega and Ryzen if not their replacements. Then include the fact that it will use faster RAM and more of it, and will still use a 10tf+ GPU and much stronger CPU

Output will show a greater disparity than overall specs aswell. Since MS has said that all Scorpio games will also run on the regular Xbox One. Every game designed to run on that 6.0tf system will also have to run on a 1.31tf system. Whereas the PS5 will be an actually new console with it's own games.

Needless to say the PS5 is going to eat the Scorpio when it comes out. Though, I think it should be said that typically the "strongest console ever!!!!@!@!" as MS likes to put it, is typically just the newest console.

They still have 2 or 3 years before the PS5/X2, so they will manage to outmuscle both Pro and Scorpio significantly. Scorpio and Pro are also partially held back by the base models, games are designed to work in the weaker units. The beefier consoles will get what PC gets: basically some extra graphical settings and more resolution/fps. If we look at PC games during the last and the current gen, they had a jump in graphical quality after PS4 and X1, simply because the games were now being made for newer consoles. 

Games are develped for the platform where they sell more. Base PS4 and X1 far outnumber people on high-end hardware (Scorpio, Pro, PC), so games are developed for them. People usually say that weaker platforms are "helding back" development, but they usually forget that if they weren't here to guarantee the bulk of sales, games wouldn't be developed at all.

I don't think Scorpio is going to worry Sony or make them change their plans. PS5 will drop in 2020 I believe, probably for around $399. It will be much more powerful than the Scorpio

And if MS releases something more powerful a year later, good for them. Sony will still be selling far more consoles and that is what they both care about most

Let's wait for a further spec analysis first. Currently, the word over on NeoGAF is that Scorpios GPU is based entirely on Polaris while the Ps4 PRO GpU includes features from Vega, which the Scorpio might miss. This would mean that the Pro GPU incorporated features from an advanced, unreleased GPU architecture while Scorpios GPU incorporated features from what will be the current GPU architecture.... But the PRO came out almost a year ago. It's surprising to say the least.

Also, there's a few other oddities about the Scorpio reveal. Some things suggest that MS made sacrifices to hit that 6TF number just so they could reach the PR number of 6tf that they'd been promising for almost a year now. Unfortunately the only hardware spec that's been a surprise so far is
~ variable refresh rate HDMI (which would be nice.... If literally any tv supported it. It's only a high end PC monitor spec for now)
- AMD Jaguar CPU (this was actually a bad surprise. Jaguar is hot garbage according to the PC elite and almost everyone expected something better)

As for the advancements in the API and DX12, these improvements are just bringing it closer to what the PS4's API has been all along. What used to take 1000's of draw calls and an entire CPU core is now more streamlined on Scorpio. The thing is, we have devs on file saying that a draw call happens so fast on Ps4 due to how close the API is to the metal that it could easily be missed and devs would sometimes have to scan profiles to search for the bleep that represented it.

Truthfully, nothing about Scorpio has been groundbreaking so far. We need more information I don't think there's nearly as much hype as there should be for MS great comeback. I was kind of expecting more threads about it from here for instance. I was expecting more buzz on other forums. At the end of the day a lot of people are smart enough to see through MS though. What is it these things do again? They play games. Scorpio doesn't even address or acknowledge the primary issue here and everything it does do right is done better on PC. I can't see the gaming landscape shaking up from this but we'll see. I look forward to more unbiased spec discussion from anandtech since DF is too busy practicing their note cards that MS was kind enough to hand them. It's all very 'unprecedented' haha

It means Sony should do nothing, or rather - keep doing exactly what they are doing - because they are focusing on games and variety and thats whats selling.

It means the PS5 will probably come out later? Based on Sony's track record, we could have expected PS5 in 2019, but the appearance of the Pro may have changed that.

if the ps4pro costs 399 at the start i think ms will try the same price, its important if a elite controller will be standard for the scorpio or not.