PlayStation 6 requested feature confirmed by leaked PS5 Pro specs

Leaked specs for the rumoured PlayStation 5 Pro have seemingly confirmed the PlayStation 6 will have backwards compatibility.

While Sony is yet to confirm or deny new PlayStation hardware is on the way, it did recently say the PS5 is entering the latter stages of its life, amongst rumours it could receive another revision as the PS5 Pro.

This would be the second time the PlayStation 5 has been redesigned, with the first being the PS5 Slim.

Despite there being no official announcement yet that the PS5 will be getting a Pro model, specs have leaked online suggesting it does exist and is a significant improvement over its predecessor.

That being said, one leak seemingly confirms the PS5 Pro is being made in a way to ensure the PlayStation 6 is backwards compatible.

According to the well-known leaker Kepler, the boosted CPU of the PS5 Pro is possibly related to backwards compatibility with the PS6.

The way Sony handles BC is very complex, and it requires the new HW to run at the same or higher clock speed, even if the new HW is faster at lower clock speeds.

If they are using Zen6 dense cores for PS6, they can't target 4GHz+ for the PS5 Pro as that could break BC.

— Kepler (@Kepler_L2) March 17, 2024

This is because Sony requires new hardware to “run at the same or higher clock speed, even if the new hardware is faster at lower clock speeds”.

It would definitely make sense for Sony to prioritise backwards compatibility in its next console. After all, the majority of games playable on the PS5 have been PS4 games as well.

While it's unclear the extent of the platforms that the PS6 will support, it seems Sony is keen to ensure as many games are available at launch as possible.

The company has also been experimenting with cloud-streaming software, allowing users to stream PS3 and earlier console generation games provided they have access to PlayStation Plus.

Neither the PlayStation 5 Pro nor the PlayStation 6 have been confirmed at the time of writing, though an announcement is expected in the coming months, as it's rumoured the PS5 Pro will launch towards the end of the year.