Well considering that even at launch you can make completely different powersets between 399 and 599 consoles they could release a Pro, but I don't think they will.

So you think that MS is going to launch X2 this year after like 6 months of X1X for Sony to be hard pressed to not give MS a 1 year headstart?

Yep I agree... we are still to see a formal 249 base price and 149 BF price that will probably occur this year, 199 base 2019 and 149 2020-2021.

And even without devkits, next gen can be worked with abstract configuration devs think will be mainstream in 2 or 3 years.

Uhm no. People are arguing that 2019 is very soon and pointing out that PS4 is selling well and launching PS4 in 2019 is not smart bec. It will cut off PS4 sales.

I am pointing out that if The new xbox will release in 2019 and PS5 will release in 2020. Sony cannot afford for the xbox to have a 1 year head start again.  Even if PS 4 is still selling well. Sony will not let a xbo360 situation happened again. 360 was able to gain foothold and become successful that made it hard for Sony last gen. 

So to make it short. If MS will release the new xbox next year Sony will follow asap. Or even if ms will release it this year the same goes for sony as well.

I could certainly SEE PS5 being released in 2019, but not in the first quarter, and not with completely new architecture. Also, backwards compatibility with PS1-PS3, while something I’d find desirable, seems more like fanboy wish-fulfillment then something that’ll actually happen.

A PS5 released before 2020 would basically need to be like a PS4 Pro: similar architecture to allow for both forward AND backwards compatibility between PS4 and PS5, with the PS4 being able to play PS5 games on lower settings and vice-versa. I imagine the only reason to call it a PS5 is to allow developers to make games that are PS5 exclusive, or at least make games that can function on a PS4 Pro, but not the base PS4 model. This way, they don’t abandon the software ecosystem developed during the PS4’s lifespan, and PS4 owners who skipped the Pro (such as myself) have incentive to upgrade.

But even under this scenario, a PS5 in early 2019 just seems rather...pointless. That’s just a little over 2 years after the Pro. In order to release something that’s decently more powerful than the Pro in that time, they’d have to go with hardware that’s way more expensive, in the $500-$600 dollar range. This price point is fine if you’re selling something as a “premium version” of a cheaper console. But when it’s a successor, such a price point seems...risky. And really, releasing a PS4 successor this early seems silly. The system is selling like gangbusters. There’s no reason to rush out a successor, even in the face of the XBX. I definitely don’t believe this rumor, though if it is true, I find the move rather dumb.

Dont see it before 2020... early 2019 is too early, the whole point of pro was to extend the life of the PS4...

You'll see the PS4 reduce in price (or even disappear) and the Pro will reduce in price to be the new headliner - £249 price.. Theres still way too much scope for pro sales for them to consider 2019...

Seriously anyone who believes this is mad :D

Maybe you missed the "in quite a few regards". I wasn't referring to absolute sales (though there is substantial evidence to suggest the PS3 is overtracked on VGC).

Oh just stop it.

What's the point of releasing PS5 in Q1 2019? It will just cut off PS4's market cap. Sony would be dumb to do that.

A Pro2 is more likely.

Sony could 100% handle launching a year later. They have before. No, what hurt the PS3 is not only did they launch at $200 more expensive, but the custom HW was so complicated for devs early on that the 3rd party games didn't even take advantage of the extra horsepower for years to come. Had the PS3 been able to launch at $399 and devs could have taken advantage of the power within months, instead of years, it would have absolutely crushed the 360.

LOL, I'd love to see all of this substantial evidence you speak of. The last official info we got was in 2013 which showed that the PS3 reached 80M less than a month after the 360 did. The time before when both announced shipped numbers, it was just over a month the PS3 matched 360's numbers, so it's obvious that the PS3 was catching up. Given that the PS3 was outselling the 360 in EU, as well as outselling it by ~700K in just Japan since that announcement, I think it's pretty obvious PS3 passed it.

It's a little early for April Fool's, isn't it?

I would be extreamly disappointed if PS5 came out 12 months from now. There is no justifiable tech to deliver a next gen experience right now, and even if 7nm is available for the CPU/GPU, Memory and Storage are to expensive to take advantage of the processing.

A dev kit for PS5 is very likely to be in the hands of 1st parties and close 3rd parties, as games will need to be started now to hit a late 2020 or 2021 launch. These dev kits woukd likely be using early 7nm test chips and only be a target for where they expect to get with PS5. Current Ryzen and Vega based chips are not enough of a leap over PS4, so even a Vega 64 based system would not be a good representation. When 7nm GPUs come out 13.5TFLOPs will be mid to low end GPU power.

2019 would be a mistake for PS5, imo. The PS4 will have its best sales year yet this year and has just seemed to hit its stride in software, they should hold off until at least 2020. Honestly I think they should wait until 2021, maybe even 2022.