Prediction - PS3-PS4 and X360-XOne last big performance spec leap

[EricHiggin]

Intrinsic said:

Kyuu said:

What specs can we expect from PS5 if it launches at the end of 2021 and is priced at $499?

While that price point might be risky, I think Sony could take that route now that Nintendo and possibly Microsoft are doing their own thing with the Nintendo going hybrid, and Xbox mini-PC (Unless MS surprises me and stick to traditional consoles)

And how likely is it that a higher end model launches simultaneously with base PS5 for those who want more resolution?

Here's what I think we would be getting.... and all of these would be on a 7nm/10nm node.

- 8 core ryzen 7 equivalent CPU@3.0ghz
- 72 - 80CU GPU@1.2Ghz+ capable of about 12TF+ (PS4 is 18CU and PS4pro is 36CU) 
- PCIe M.2 based SSD 2000MB/s+ transfer speeds and probbaly only 1TB of it, maybe even less.
- 16GB of at least HBM2 or higher allowing memory bandwith in excess of 500GB/s
- 4GB of LPDDR4 ram reserved for the OS. 

And I believe they will target a $399 price point. As for releasing two models simultaneously..... that would just be a disastrous mistake. As weird as it may seem, and that situation the more expensive more powerful SKU will always be considere as the primary model. The reason that isn't the case with the PS4pro is because by the time it released there were already over 40M base PS4s in the market.

I'm not going to comment on the specs, because I'm really not so sure at the moment. Too many possiblities now that mid gen upgrades are a thing as well as the multiple choices for tech going forward, along with the shortages of some of that tech.

As for the two tiers at launch being a disaster, I don't see that being the case, as long as they don't go overboard like they did with the PS3. If they followed a more affordable path, like the $300 and $400 consoles that 360 had in 2005, then it should work. This would mean having something like a $349/$399 base PS5, along with a $499 PS5 Pro around 2020. The Pro doesn't have to be all that much better to get the hardcore spec heads, or wealthy to buy it, no matter when it launches, and as long as the gap between both isn't too large, then people will be fine with picking up the base PS5 model. Just look at the performance gap between PS4 and PS4 Pro, yet the Pro sales are quite good for showing up mid gen. I honestly can't believe that if PS4 Pro was launched at the same time as PS4, for $499 or even $549, that some people wouldn't have bought it. I would have to assume, that in that scenario, PS4 Pro would have higher sales than it does now, and worst case, PS4 as a whole, would still have 60+ million consoles sold regardless. (PS4 Pro would need to have focused more on enhanced 1080p early on, then add in 4k and checkerboarding a few years down the road, like late 2016).

This could lead to a shorter gen though, or just another mid gen upgrade on top of the PS5 Pro at launch, and that may defeat the purpose of what PS is trying to do. It's hard to know what exactly their game plan is going forward.