PS5 Pro is just trying to entice the PS4 laggards to upgade, just as the new XBOX SX models are for XB1 holdouts and maybe the odd SS upgrader. Neither is going to attract platform switchers or console newcomers.
The fun question is what happens when the next XBOX shows up in 2026?
Will Sony replace the Pro with the PS6 in two years?
And yes, $800 (with base and disk) is very much in midrange gaming PC territory or even a bit higher than DIYers. (Off course the EU price is closer to $900 but they'll buy it happily. Brand loyalty rules there.)
Now, a devil's advocate would point out the PS3 launched at $499/$599 in 2006 dollars which after 18 years of inflation comes out to $800-950 and still the faithful bought it. So Sony can charge them the equivalent of US$1000, with base and drive: $900 without, and it'll still sell. They're loyal to a fault.
Playstation thinks it's Apple, but it's only the price that brings them together. Apple offers premium prices but offers a differentiating offer with different hardware and software ecosystem which is also intended to be premium.
Playstation for its part, at the hardware level, it is practically the same thing as an Xbox series although with a few differentiating gadgets such as haptic feedback. But Xbox also offers differentiating elements with a more ergonomic controller, quick resume, auto HDR, fps boost, etc.
So at this level, nothing much different in the end, I would even say that the manufacturing elements of the PlayStation consoles are even quite cheap if we compare the care taken by Apple to its devices.
In terms of software ecosystem, 98% of the games catalog is identical between an Xbox series and a PlayStation. Playstation has its exclusives, but Xbox also has its exclusives, it's a question of taste afterwards.
We could even say that the Xbox ecosystem is richer with a larger catalog of backward compatible games, play anywhere PC and Xbox consoles, cross progression, cross save, etc...
Furthermore, if we compare the line up of first party games between PlayStation and Xbox, Xbox is well ahead, thanks in particular to the fact that they have 3X more studios and licenses.
Playstation has never really stood out with its OS which remains based on aging Linux.
Anyway, all this to say that in this area too, it is difficult to see how Playstation can justify such extravagant prices.
The only way they have to justify this is through marketing, this is also a difference with Apple which does not spend as much on marketing, because the quality of their products speaks for them.
Playstation has a big marketing force where they try to turn lead into gold, in the eyes of the general public. This is what saves them for the moment but it comes at the cost of large investments. Less investment for games in the end as we can easily see
We see this for example with the 8K announcements on their boxes, the exclusive marketing contracts they enter into with various games, and the advertising they do almost everywhere, the advertising and sponsored articles on the sites of video games (can we talk about independence of the press in this case?), advertising on YouTube, etc....
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