PlayStation 4 4.5 Update Arrives Thursday; Includes Boost Mode For PS4 Pro

Sony has announced that the PlayStation 4’s 4.5 firmware update will be released Thursday, March 9. The update brings in some new features, while also adding a much needed “boost” for the PlayStation 4 Pro.

The 4.5 firmware update delivers an improvement to 2D images on PlayStation VR. Currently, when players go the home screen while exiting VR mode, the screen resolution is lower than normal on the TV. The update fixes this discrepancy.

The resolution of Cinematic Mode on PS VR has also been improved as well. If a user sets the PS VR screen size to either small or medium, the frame rate on Cinematic Mode will switch from 90Hz to 120Hz.

Voice Chat will also finally be available for Remote Play for the PC, Mac and Xperia devices, according to Polygon. Players will simply have to turn on their microphone on the Tool Bar of the Remote Play app.

A minor improvement also comes for detecting a friend’s availability. If a user is online on PSN via the PlayStation App and PS Messages, a small smartphone icon will be present. This will easily let people know that user is online on PSN, but are away from their PS4 system.

The biggest feature that’s included in the PS4’s 4.5 firmware update is only available for the PlayStation Pro. Called Boost Mode, the feature will improve performance of legacy (older) games that haven’t been patched to take full advantage of the console’s extra CPU power.

“This can provide a noticeable frame rate boost to some games with variable frame rates, and can provide frame rate stability for games that are programmed to run at 30 Hz or 60 Hz,” VP of PlayStation brand marketing John Koller explained in his blog post. “Depending on the game, the increased CPU speed may also result in shorter load times.”

Koller also warned that Boost Mode is not guaranteed to work with all titles. Users will be able to turn Boost Mode on/off by going to the PS4 Pro’s System under Settings.

Other previously announced features coming to the PS4 is custom wallpapers, ability to refresh the quick menu, improved notification list, 3D Blu-ray support for PS VR and added ability to post directly into the Activity Feed.

The most sought after feature on the 4.5 update is external HDD support for additional storage. The PS4 will be able to support USB 3.0 HDDs up to 8TB in size.