I don't think that's a good idea. The PS5 at launch will be powerful enough for any console gamer. Not to mention the price of a "pro" model at launch will be insane. Better to wait 3 years for the price to come down and potentially new technology to become available.

The Pro will be a better product in 2023 than it will be in 2020, and not just in terms of price.

$100, launching at the same time, isn't going to provide much of an improvement. If it exists, my bet is the more expensive model just has more storage, or maybe SSD vs. HDD.

they will be released separate dates, that way some people will upgrade with the pro model.  = more sales.

Oh, you'll still be upgrading. To the PS5 Pro Plus! Try it it with PS Plus. The shocking death of Tifa will be buttery smooth.

If true, I'm OK with this move. And what Xxain said ^ is true. It'll work out on the consumer side. I just worry about the Canadian price being too high, especially if the tariffs from shit-for-brains are applied.

Bad idea, consumer confusion. Nintendo tried this with the Wii U.  Granted that wasn't the only reason the Wii U flopped.  

I don't think having two models with different hard drives is a problem or confusing at all. Consumers are used to this, they buy phones after all. The 360 and PS3 both launched with multiple storage options and I don't think people found it confusing.

But this is about a "pro" console, not just a storage upgrade like the WiiU.

The only reason this might be viable is if the projected tech, for a small jump in price, allows them to offer a serious bump in fidelity. Perhaps a 4k version for everything? Hardware enthusiasts will know what might be possibly for an extra 100-150 more) Advantages for this would be not having the competition offer more powerful hardware at launch for marketing purposes, while also not having them sell all of their base hardware at a loss if they were to set the higher spec as the standard.

On the other hand, it eliminates the strategy of an effective mid gen refresh like the Pro, creates a split in the userbase, offers more potential technical hiccups and kind of goes against the idea of Sony keeping it simple, which worked wonders for them this generation.

My guess would be that they will hold off for a few years, so they can target not only new gamers but also existing owners who want an upgrade.

I dont think it's even worth a bother doing it for 100 or 150 more... it took Sony and ms a few years just to release their pros for 100 more than their originals and only then could they have made it a noticeable difference. 100 dollars day 1 separating their own systems will be pointless. The only way they could do a real pro day 1 is if they did 200 or 300 more day 1. 400 dollar base, 600 or 700 dollar pro.

I am certain this will happen.
I would guess $400 and $600 at launch.

The reason I am certain is because we have essentially 2 groups of consumers, we have the ones with a 1080p display and a 4k display. The requirements for diferent resolution, is completly diffenrent, and making a next gen console that can run 4k would require too much money, so they will need to charge $150+ minimum.
While the majority of player still running a Full HD display, there is no reason they should have to pay for something they will not see.

Next generation I believe they will try to increase visual fidelity with some degree of ray tracing, this is totally feasible for $400 (which they know is the sweet spot price),for 1080p in 2020.

While for 4k 30fps, would require a equal consoles with a $150 more expensive graphic card, since would require at least twice the processing power ( while pixels is 4 times, processing power is closer to 2.5x)

I believe both consoles will have ssd, but perhaps the $600 one wil have a larger capacity at launch, which makes sense, since I believe the download for the two versions could be sligthly different due to lower resolution textures on the base model.

With this setup I described I believe developers will choose which they will focus, 60fps OR 30fps with ray tracing, across both models. Will be very interesting to see this play out, having either high fidelity game OR high refresh game. While the option for resolution versus price will be completly a decision of the consumers considering his TV setup and money to burn.

From a marketing point of view, this also does make sense, having a base and pro market. This is a requirement for next generation, please the 4k crowd while pushing fidelity for everyone. There is always those that want to pay premium also, usually those that want the best, paired with very costly TVs and monitors.

I also believe there will be only ssd option, this saves space, heat and load times will be marketed and be one of the biggest selling points. Making 1tb low cost custom ssd is totally feasible, and slower ssds paired with custom made software and hardware, will make loading times virtually instant. And players will want this feature, if either microsoft or sony dont deliver this for all their base, they will lose the battle.

Also consider that the gpu cost should be around 100 of the production cost, so being able to charge 200 more would essentially make them able to buy a gpu essentially 3 times more expensive, enough for 2.5x times more powerfull. ( I know will be a APU, but is analogos)

I agree .It would be counter productive to have two systems at Launch. I do believe mid gen refreshes are here to stay. But console gamers traditionally don't really support consoles on the 500-600 dollar range. Just look at the X. The system is a powerhouse but the price tag kept it from jumpstarting sales.

Rumors that the PS5 will be 499 are within the realm possiblity considering the speculated tech, so a "Pro" Version that offers a noticeable upgrade over it could actually come in at a price point around the 699 dollar mark. I don't think it is feasible.