How long will the PlayStation 5 Pro shortage last?

Sony has experienced a lot of turbulence within the PS5 generation. The PS5 launched in November 2020 with limited stock during the pandemic due to chip shortages and global supply chain issues. These issues were resolved in January 2023, when Sony launched its mid-generation update, the PS5 Pro, in November 2024. Then, in April 2026, Sony increased the prices of the PS5 and PS5 Pro, claiming that this was due to the state of the global economic landscape. Then, Sony announced it would end physical disc production by 2028, sparking debate about an all-digital future. Now, Sony faces another problem in the run-up to “GTA 6”: a shortage of PS5 Pros.

Sony is working hard to resolve the issue, but all major retailers, including Sony’s storefront, have sold out of their products. PlayFront claims to have obtained a memo that Sony sent to retailers, telling them that the current shortage would last “until early 2027 at the earliest.” PlayFront also claims that the memo states that the reason is “temporary market supply constraints and strong demand.” But what could make an $899 console the hottest item on the market?

As previously noted, this is “GTA 6”. This is one of the biggest gaming events of the 2020s, and people want to make sure they’re playing on the most powerful hardware on November 19. It’s also available on Xbox Series X and S, where players can use the New Zealand trick to play a few hours early.

“GTA 6” will run at 30 FPS on all consoles. According to Digital Foundry, 60 FPS is possible but highly unlikely because “GTA 6” is a CPU-bound game. Rockstar should reduce the complexity of the game world, in addition to making graphical optimizations, which would compromise the look and feel of the game. There are simply too many complex simulations going on, like NPC interactions, advanced physics, traffic patterns, night and day cycles, and dynamic weather. All of this happens at once to create a living, breathing world for you to interact with. Narrowing this down seems like a tall order.

However, could the game be better on the PS5 Pro? According to IGN, who interviewed Digital Foundry’s Alexander Battaglia, this could very well be the case. The PS5 Pro uses a powerful AI upscaler called PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR). It offers better anti-aliasing (smoothing the edges of an image to make it look less pixelated) and better image sharpness.

Then there’s real-time ray tracing, which Battaglia says is important to the GTA 6 experience. The PS5 Pro’s ray tracing capabilities are said to be more advanced than the base PS5. Battaglia said, “The real-time ray tracing transparency reflections are much more obvious” in the second Rockstar-released trailer for “GTA 6” compared to the first. “The glass of beer bottles, car windshields, building windows and much more is particularly beautiful.”