PlayStation 4 Pro, Sony's mid-generation upgrade, came out less than a month ago, and Sony officially tackled two of the most repeated questions pertaining to its console.
Taking a leaf out of the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 playbook, Sony allows its users to replace the internal HDD of the PlayStation 4 Pro, should they choose to.
GameSpot reports that the PS4 Pro makes use of a SATA III interface, meaning that solid-state drives are supported by Sony's console. Users who choose to take an SSD over the default HDD of the PS4 Pro can look forward to speeds ramping up to 6 Gbps. To put it in perspective, the first PS4 model featured a SATA II interface, meaning that the fastest speed it could aspire to was 3 Gbps.
Not all console manufacturers see value in allowing users to replace the insides of their hardware.
Sony's competition, namely Microsoft and Nintendo, both do not allow the HDD of the Xbox One and Nintendo Wii U to be removed and replaced. However, it should be mentioned that the Xbox One and Nintendo Wii U allow users to dial up their storage space in the consoles via external hard drives.
The PS4 Pro is announced to become available on Nov. 10, and Sony puts a price tag of $400 on the new console. The device comes with a hefty 1 TB hard drive, but no 4K Blu-ray player will be present. Sony argues that the future belongs with streaming, and as such it is trying to tone down using physical disks.
The company is not the only one that believes this to be true. Yves Guillemot, cofounder and CEO of Ubisoft, said earlier this year that the days of disks are numbered and streaming will become the future-proof option. It might take a bit of time, though.
"We think it's going to grow but today, with the types of games we have, it will still take a bit of time to be more popular," Guillemot notes.
In case you are undecided whether or not to upgrade from your PS4 to the PS4 Pro, this handy comparison might help you out.
Keep in mind that Microsoft will roll out a new and improved version of Xbox, soon enough. The Project Scorpio is scheduled to hit the shelves sometime during the upcoming holiday season.
The company touts the new console will offer unprecedented processing power, and even claims that a "performance gap" between the PS4 Pro and Scorpio will be visible to the naked eye.
