Rumors suggest that Sony is struggling to keep production costs under control and may be forced to cut costs on its half-generation console refresh.

In the video embedded below, Digital Foundry editors discuss the yet-to-be-announced PlayStation 5 Pro. According to a leak, the console will be digital-only, meaning it won’t include a Blu-ray drive. (Maybe you can plug it in separately, like we can with the redesigned base model?) The production ratio for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 4 Pro was around 80-20%, and it’s likely to be similar this time around, so the PlayStation 5 Pro will undoubtedly be a rarity, but it could still be a sellable product.

As we have mentioned several times, the price of the console will be a major issue. Sony is struggling to keep production costs down, as evidenced by this week’s price hike in Japan, which will likely spill over to the West in the future. The only way Sony can save on this is to make the PlayStation 5 Pro available in digital-only models to keep the price down and make it more compelling, as the “point five” model will certainly be more expensive than the base version.

The PlayStation 5 Pro is designed for hardcore fans, so it might not be a good idea to ditch the Blu-ray drive for them if they like to collect discs. If you support a disc drive that plugs in separately, it would be a logical choice, but it would be more expensive for users who would have to pay a premium to use the discs.

The PlayStation 5 Pro will also look similar to the base model, although it will be slightly larger than the base model because the more powerful hardware requires a better cooling system. The console hasn’t been announced yet, but it’s likely to be at least two weeks before the platform is finally revealed. The only question (and it’s almost prosaic) is when will Sony finally talk about it officially?

Source: WCCFTech