Sony's next major software update for PlayStation 4 version 4.5, codenamed as "Sasuke," has been released today, March 9, following an over a month of beta testing. Other than the previously announced key features of this update, like external HDD support and custom wallpapers, this big update comes with a number of welcome features and a huge benefit to PlayStation 4 Pro owners.
The Boost Mode feature, which is only available for PlayStation 4 Pro, is designed to improve the quality and performance of selected titles that have not been patched to support the console. Sony explained that this feature can not only provide a noticeable frame rate boost with variable frame rates, but also provide frame rate stability for games that are programmed to run at 30 or 60 Hz.
The Boost Mode feature on PlayStation 4 Pro can be turned on by going to Settings > System. Additionally, Sony confirmed that the Boost Mode is not guaranteed to work with all games. More so, the setting can be turned off so the gaming experience would be that of a standard PlayStation 4. According to Polygon, this feature justifies the cost of the Pro over the standard PS4.
Furthermore, a tweak for PlayStation VR is included on PS4's 4.5 update as well. This tweak makes 2D images look better on the virtual reality headset. Sony details that when people play a game in PS VR and return to the PS4's home screen, they would notice that the resolution looks lower than normal on the TV Social Screen. Now, following this update, they will be able to see a significant improvement with the said resolution. Its cinematic mode's resolution quality would be improved from 90 Hz to 120 Hz given that the screen size is being set to small or medium.
PlayStation 4's 4.5 update also adds voice chat for Remote Play on Mac, Windows PC, and on an Xperia device. This can be toggled via the microphone icon on the Remote Play app's tool bar.
Another additional feature Sony has included with the big update is a smartphone-shaped icon. This indicates that the person is logged into PSN through the off-console apps and features like the PlayStation App or the PlayStation Messages app, but not actually using their console. Check out this PlayStation Blog post to learn more about PS4 4.5 update.