As long as they can keep a 30fps framerate on PS4, whatever else needed to make it playable would be done, rather than cut PS4 out. I wouldn't find it surprising to see some 720p PS4 games and 1080p on Pro before they both get cut off at this point. I don't see SNY splitting the PS4 userbase.

I do wonder if SNY is getting any idea's from XBSS though. Not necessarily an updated cheaper version of a PS5 Pro for a base PS6, but more like what was mentioned about PS4 Pro in the past. There was another PS4 Pro option that would've launched alongside XB1X that had a more advanced CPU, and who knows what else. If they chose that PS4 Pro SKU instead, leaving PS4 behind would've been easier, while they kept cross gen going with the more advanced PS4 Pro.

If XBSS sales continue to be reasonably strong, SNY may just go with a more advanced version for PS5 Pro this time so it can remain useful far longer into the next gen. That would basically mean the end of generations for SNY though, and that would require a shift in messaging/marketing.

On the comments about the Japan 1/4 of the sales after the release of Pro being of Pro Sony have commented something very close to that as WW phenomenon not only Japan so we can use that as a very precise guess. X1X though we really don't have any precise comment (except what people put about Matt Piscadela, but that would be USA only, but ok since it was the most relevant market for them and well the jump from X1 to X1X was much bigger than PS4 to PS4Pro).

I agree with you that AI-enhanced upscaling tech, and cloud streaming, will keep the Series S relevant.  And I also agree that an inexpensive streaming-only box would be a winner.

Actually, I'd love an inexpensive cloud-streaming box stylized like an OG Xbox Mini, that has some OG Xbox games out of the box (perhaps even some not in the current backwards compatible collection, and perhaps some running with resolution or frame-rate enhancements), but is also an xCloud streaming box.  It'd be the only retro mini console that ALSO plays current-gen games!  :D

Hmmmm...   back on topic, if a game runs great on Series S and can be made to run well on the One X, they could release an Xbox One version of a game that gives you access to streaming the game if you have a One S (or an OG One) but a native version if you have a One X.  This would be potentially of interest to people who have an OG One or a One S, but aren't Game Pass Ultimate subscribers.  You'd have to be REALLY clear on the box and/or in the description in the store what you are or are not getting, though!

The OG One/One S version could also be a hybrid release, with some elements of the game running natively and others being streamed.  So the game would run entirely natively on the One X, but could be a hybrid approach for One S with the sections of the game that are too challenging for the hardware being streamed.

I'm probably more interested in these options for their technical novelty than any business case that could be made for them.  :)

Interesting line of thinking.  Once a PS5 Pro is in, the regular PS5 is likely out.  I'd expect it to be only the PS5 Digital and the PS5 Pro (with optical drive) at that point.  Sony doesn't have a history offering as many SKUs as Microsoft, and Sony is probably just as eager as Microsoft to get their customers going digital.  The physical case, and the internals, of the PS5 all hint at a system that at one point was likely going to only be an all-digital system, and at some point they caved and literally just badged on an optical drive onto the side.

If it being the only way to get a PS5-compatible system with an optical drive becomes a selling point for the upgrade to the Pro, probably all the better in Sony's eyes.  I predict only the most expensive option at all points in the PS5 life cycle will have an optical drive.

In another post, you ask the obvious question of whether keeping the last-gen "Pro" consoles relevant is even something you'd want to do.  In Sony's case, I think the answer is no.  Their business model is too closely tied to selling AAA first-party games at $70 USD a pop (and $80 with dual entitlement and some digital extras).

In Microsoft's case, the answer probably would have been yes, let's keep them relevant, as we want to keep them subbed to Game Pass Ultimate.  Except the numbers being speculated here suggests they didn't sell enough One X units to make it worth it.  Maybe if they hadn't released the Series S that'd be different, but the Series S means that almost everyone can upgrade to current-gen consoles and get a better experience (despite each having advantages, as someone who upgraded from the One X to the Series S I strongly believe the Series S is a significantly better experience overall).

TLDR; the One X didn't sell quite well enough, and the Series S is so easy to upgrade to, that the One X sadly won't be specifically catered too despite my fever dreams wishing they would.  :)

I'm sure you're right.  That said, I know someone who would play Microsoft Flight Simulator right now, today, on his One X if it was compatible.  That game could be scaled to the One X, I have no doubt.  I can understand not doing so if it's for a maximum of 5-7 million people.  What's really going to decline the value of One X-only games is game streaming, actually.  Pretty soon now those One X owners will be able to subscribe to Game Pass Ultimate and stream Flight Simulator, and other Series X|S-only games, to their One X systems.  From Microsoft's perspective, this is a solution that doesn't require writing One X-specific code, and is therefore pretty appealing.

Now there's an interesting idea...  putting a game into xCloud, but ONLY for people who're running it on Xbox One systems.  I mean literally just putting it in xCloud, not also putting it on Game Pass (for a publisher for whom Game Pass isn't an appealing business model, or for whom Microsoft passed on cutting a deal with them for including it in Game Pass).  Meaning a customer would buy the game in the store, and get a streamed copy of the game to play.  You could even sell retail copies with a code to own the game through game streaming, without needing to subscribe to any services to play it (other than Gold if it has online multiplayer).

They are even working on app for TV and already have on smartphone to connect on tv, so I'm quite certain at some point they'll either make a dongle for regular tvs or some other android like box will be able to install it.

I'm not sure if it could be scaled since while the One X got a big GPU improvement the CPU improvement was really mild in comparison and Flight Simulator isn't just GPU demanding. I could see that xCloud idea becoming a thing when cloud gaming becomes more viable though.

Lots of games are scaling great to One X and Series S.  They tend to scale the One X version to a higher resolution, the Series S version to a higher frame-rate, and the Series X version to both.

As for Flight Simulator in particular, perhaps Microsoft simply doesn't want to do a high-res/low-frame rate version of Flight Simulator, especially when it's coming to xCloud in the new year and they'll be able to stream it at 1080p@60?