Just before September, we may have the first look at the PlayStation 5 Pro's design, courtesy of a sketch based on a leaked photograph provided to a journalist. The source of this story is Dealabs Magazine, a French gaming magazine owned by the Pepper.com shopping platform. The reporter who wrote the story goes by Billbil_kun on both Dealabs and Twitter and (officially) has been operating as an investigator for Dealabs since 2016.
Reportedly, this design is being shared as a sketch instead of a photograph because sharing the (likely leaked/taken against NDA) photograph could potentially infringe on copyright. While we can't comment on how the sketch approach holds up as a legal argument, the sketch is at least detailed enough to infer lots about the upcoming PlayStation 5 Pro design, provided it holds.
For one, if this sketch is based on a finalized retail model, the Sony PlayStation 5 Pro will either come in digital and disc drive-supported models like the base PlayStation 5 or only in digital form. If the latter approach is taken, it will likely be seen as a controversial move since many console gamers like to take advantage of the secondhand games market, and disc drives are better for long-term game preservation.
Aesthetically speaking, the sketched PlayStation 5 Pro design already resembles the PlayStation 5 disc model more than the digital model since the digital model does not have centered stripes like the disc model. The original PS5 disc model only has one stripe, though, whereas the PlayStation 5 Pro has three stripes.
Regarding dimensions, the sketched PlayStation 5 Pro also seems closer to the PS5 Slim than the original PlayStation 5 designs, though slightly thicker than the PS5 Slim. Since the PS5 Slim also supports an attachable disc drive, the PlayStation 5 Pro may also help the feature through the same peripheral, even if there's only a single digital model on launch.
The rumor mill seems to point toward an official PlayStation 5 Pro announcement soon, considering how much information has already leaked about the hardware specifications and the expected PS5 Pro Enhanced requirements. Rival console manufacturers Microsoft and Nintendo have also been reasonably active with new models of Xbox Series S|X and open confirmation of Nintendo Switch 2, with the rumor mill on the latter pointing toward a release in early 2025.
