Sony announced massive price increases for its PS5 consoles last week, with the PS5 Pro getting slapped with the biggest price hike out of all of them: a whopping $150, pushing the MSRP of the hardware to $900. The good news is that the new price hasn’t gone into effect yet, but the bad news is that time is running out, as you only have until April 2 to get a PS5 Pro at its current price of $750.
Why is the PS5 Pro price increasing so much?
Officially, Sony says that “continued pressures in the global economic landscape” have forced its hand, leading to the price increases. With an AI-driven demand for components like SSDs and RAM, it’s no wonder that the cost of producing PS5 and PS5 Pro consoles has gone up, with the PS5 Pro in particular being equipped with a 2TB SSD, 16GB of GDDR6 RAM, and 2GB of DDR5 RAM. It’s not the first time that Sony has faced issues involving manufacturing costs, but the global semiconductor shortage of the early 2020s pales in comparison to current world events, geopolitical instability, and US president Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Do I need a PS5 Pro in 2026?
The PS5 Pro is a great console, if you have the right tech to support it. The build quality is rock-solid, and the internal hardware–along with the improved PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR)–make 4K 60fps games more viable on it. But to see those results, you will need a top-notch TV, and those aren’t exactly cheap either. A disc drive is also not included, so if you were planning to watch 4K Blu-rays or play physical games on the PS5 Pro, that’s an extra expense to consider.
You’ve got to ask yourself: How much do I really care about those juiced-up frame rates and resolution? The base PS5 console is still capable of running modern games, and thanks to some technical wizardry, the compromises tend to not be noticeable unless you’re looking for them. Quality and Performance modes typically ask you to choose between frame rates and resolution, but several studios have managed to blend the best of those modes together in impressive fashion.
But if graphics do matter to you, then a PS5 Pro is worth considering. First-party PlayStation Studios games look phenomenal with the right TV–I’m using an LG OLED C5 series TV–and other games like Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth, Resident Evil Requiem, and Stellar Blade make a strong case for the existence of the PS5 Pro. Playing games at the highest possible framerate and resolution looks and feels great, and I love showing them off to friends.
Cross-gen support could stretch this generation out for years
Cross-gen support has been a major focus since the PS5 console generation began, and for good reason. It’s a feature that publishers and developers have had to make use of by necessity, as losing out on a potential player base of tens of millions of people just doesn’t make sense.
As of November 2025, the PS5 has achieved lifetime sales of 84.2 million consoles sold, and that’s an audience that game developers will not want to leave out in the cold when the PS6 eventually launches.
It’s a good bet that cross-gen games will be around for quite some time before the PS6 shores up enough numbers to justify next-gen exclusives, and the PS5 Pro could offer performance that’s close to its successor. What does that mean for you? More time to squirrel away some cash for the PS6, see if the console is worth the hype, and if it has any issues that Sony will need to deal with before you make an informed purchasing decision. A PS5 Pro might even help you bridge the gap until a PS6 Pro, or some other revision, is released a few years into the PS6’s life cycle.
What can next-gen gaming really offer?
Reports suggest PS6 might not be here until 2028, which could include a launch date more than two and a half years from now–and that’s assuming no delays. Beyond that, there’s no assurance that Sony will present a compelling reason to buy one at launch, whereas PS5 Pro will allow you to play the entire PS5 library, including what could be years of continued support even after PS6 comes out.
You’re probably not going to play PlayStation games anywhere else
Recently, we’ve seen reports that Sony’s first-party games may no longer be coming to PC. If that’s true, then that means that a lot of its highly anticipated games will once again be true console exclusives. There’s no word yet on a Ghost of Yotei, Marvel’s Wolverine, or a Saros port, and if those games matter to you, then you’ve got to pay to play. Yes, it sucks how much stuff costs and how the options to play have been dialed back, but that’s how things stand right now.
Where can I find a PS5 Pro?
Stock is still available at the current MSRP through the following retailers:
- Amazon
- Walmart
- Target
Is a PS5 Pro still worth having, even at $900?
That’s a hard question to answer. It all depends on your economic situation, but if you’re looking for a gaming solution that works right out of the box and offers impressive quality, the PS5 Pro is the way to go. You’re not going to get a PC capable of smooth 4K 60fps visuals for under $1,000.
No system is perfect, and even with two years of improvements behind it, the PS5 Pro still has a few kinks to work out. But it’s the closest and cheapest path toward high-end gaming–at least for the next few days.
