Traditionally, console makers like Sony and Microsoft often create a mid-cycle console refresh,
Am I tripping or did this only happen once each? Was there some PS3 Pro or Xbox 360X that I missed?
I'm not saying they aren't going to do it again, but I wouldn't call it a tradition just yet.
Edit: People I know there were slim versions and other variants of consoles. I'm talking about mid-generstion upgrades to performance. Like Nintendo handhelds: the New 3DS and Gameboy Color would be reasonable examples. There's some things you can stretch: the N64 memory pack, the Sega tower of power.
They did some minor hardware revisions and "Slim" models, but yeah they were never intended as a "Pro" model with increased performance/graphics. Definitely not a "tradition" by this point
They had slim variants going back to the Playstation/PS1. More recently was the "pro" models coming out trying to jump on the Apple marketing bandwagon.
It's slightly different though. The PSOne was a post-PS2, cut-price version for the low end market. Same for the NES' second version and more (360 E, PS2/3 Slims, Wii Mini, etc.). The PS4 Pro was the first real mid cycle performance upgrade we got IIRC (aside from the PSP getting double the ram mid cycle, I guess).
The main reason the ps4 pro came out was the relatively sudden mass adoption of 4k tvs as the new standard. Sony wanted something that could reliably take advantage of it
Yes they've had slim versions of course, but their performance/feature mix has been the same (or even worse) than the original. I'm not sure why you're bringing them up? That's been a part of the industry for longer than Sony has- Sega had 3 models of the Genesis, Nintendo had the top-loading NES, etc.
I'm also not sure what you're referring to with the Apple marketing bandwagon. The word "Pro" has been used for consumer goods for decades. Off the top of my head I always think of Bass Pro shops. Apple is just one of many, many companies doing the same thing. And also that only applies to Playstation- Microsoft is using their X terminology. Although we will have to see if Microsoft decides to upgrade the Series X what the hell they'd call it (2x? XX?).
My apologies if I come off as rude, but I'm genuinely trying to figure out what you're talking about here.