As part of the court discussions between the Federal Trade Commision and Microsoft on the latter’s acquisition of Activision, a big document have leaked Xbox’s plans for 2024 and beyond.
For 2024, it looks like the Xbox Series X will be getting a refresh. The new box won’t look like a box, at least from the one render featured in the leaked documentation.
The refreshed Xbox Series X, codenamed Brooklin, is also not a mid-gen upgrade, like how the Xbox One X is for the Xbox One. Rather, the refresh will have other improvements outside of higher compute power which includes the following:
- Wi-Fi 6E
- Bluetooth 5.2
- 2TB internal storage
- USB-C port at the front
- New controller
- Same price point at $499 USD (albeit without disc drive)
- Lower Power Supply Unit power by 15%
- Lower standby power usage by 20%
- 30% of housing material made of PCR
- 100% recyclable packaging
It’s noted that the this refreshed Xbox Series X is “now adorably all digital”, ditching the disc drive.
Alongside Brooklin, another refresh of the Xbox Series S, codename Ellewood, is coming as well. This doesn’t come in a change in form factor (it’s still the white, rectangular box), and will be priced the same as the current one, but with a bigger internal storage (1TB), Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2 and similar improvements to standby power usage, housing material and recyclable packaging as Brooklin.
Another fascinating reveal is the new redesigned Xbox Controller. Codenamed Sebile, this brings the Xbox Controller more in line with PlayStation’s DualSense in that there is now haptic feedback and gyro, though the controller remains touchpad-less and Adaptive Trigger-less (the “Xbox Wireless Controller”- the one introduced for the Xbox Series consoles- has rumble features on the triggers instead).
The new Xbox Controller supports Bluetooth 5.2, has modular thumbsicks and should include rechargeable and swappable batteries from the get-go, rather than having that as a separate add-on, if the presentation assets here is leading us up to believe.
The new Xbox Controller is expected to launch in June 2024. The refreshed Xbox Series S (Ellewood) is targeting a September 2024 release while the refreshed Xbox Series X (Brooklin) is coming in November of that year.
Whether Xbox will keep to their schedules based on these leaked documents or not remains to be seen.