Xbox Pro inbound? New dev kit certified.

To recap:

During the ABK approvals, documents leaked showing a Series X/S refresh was coming, but no “Pro” model.

Phil Spencer stated that no “Pro” model was coming.

Sarah Bond stated new hardware was coming this winter and that Xbox would see the greatest technological leap. But was she talking about next gen or a Pro model?

Now: South Korea just approved a new Xbox dev kit, with many on Twitter claiming it’s gotta be a Pro model, not the mid gen refresh of the Series X/S.

https://insider-gaming.com/new-xbox-dev-kit-rated-in-south-korea/

I thought MS specifically said they wouldn't do a Pro. But I guess Sony's latest move forces them to react.

@R4gn4r0k: or did Phil just say they weren’t when he knew they were? Or is this really the mid gen refresh but hopium is making people believe it’s a Pro?

Its the new digital version, specially made for @last_lap and other digital gamers. Laughable release.

@hardwenzen: Aww the fakeboy is trying to hurt my feelings 🤣

Why would i do that? I am simply reminding you like a good friend.

@hardwenzen: Failure has a name, hardwenzen.

Asked chatgpt and googled it. Never saw my name as the definition of failure. Sorry but Turd10 lovers won't get me this easily.

Phil said they weren’t doing a midgen refresh, so they are 100% doing a midgen refresh

Maybe it's a portable?

@hardwenzen: The fact you had to ask chatgp only confirms it further, great job 🤣

Don't be disrepectful toward me.

@hardwenzen: Telling the truth is disrespectful to you?

You must feel disrespected a LOT on here.

@ghostofgolden: Phil says a lot of things. When it comes to Phils interviews it's a case of half of what you reads all bull and the other half's all 💩

I’ll probably just wait for their next system instead of getting a “Pro” model.

Not buying a Pro model this gen.

Worst gen ever in terms of blockbuster games.

No point in a pro model. Hard pass.

I have never heard any truth coming out from your mouth. Never.

For the first time ever, Playstation was lowered to Microsoft standards. Its pathetic.

Just like the PS5 Pro, meh.

Ah. I see you are proficient in executive speak.

With all the layoffs we're probably going to see fewer big releases .... why bother with more powerful hardware.

@hardwenzen: The truth hurt you, that's why you felt disrespected, so you proved by your own words that I tell the truth.

Only a cow can say the truth. So unless you have a ps5, i can't take anything you say seriously, and instead, i will take it as disrespect toward superior gamers such as myself.

having 5 (3 xbox/ 2 PS) different SKU with very big differences in power only benefits the last gen Series S as it probably will be the base mode for devs.

@hardwenzen: I called you a fakeboy and you put it in your sig they you're not, again your own words have proven you wrong again. You take what I seriously.

Poor wenzen lol.

I usually ignore Aussies completely, unless its a fit women that nolifes the beach. Sorry.

@hardwenzen: More lies lol.

Why would i lie about stuff like that? Its just not my personality.

Sony releasing a pro would extend the generation so would be surprised if ms release a new system in 2026 like speculated.

You're probably getting hints at their next gen console. They already said no mid gen refresh and they are going to have a shortened dev cycle this gen to start next gen earlier than normal. I expect the next Xbox console to release in mid-late 2026 and SONY not to release until 2027 or possibly even 2028.

If there is to be an Xbox pro one thing i'll say before seeing its specs is it will have games the Ps5 pro dust collecting upgrade won't...i mean who needs games if the Ps5 pro sells more right?

Nah, strangest generation ever where console prices never saw that launch day price falling fast even after many years now.

Crazy, and it hardly felt like we got anything much better than what we had the previous gen. Just one weird gen altogether.

No new refresh needed just wait until they have something really special before launching any new consoles, thank you very much. :P

The OneX felt like a nice upgrade because the base XOne was a terrible console. On the other hand, the PS4 Pro is probably the worst console I've ever owned and felt unnecessary.

This gen I'm very satisfied with SeriesX. I skipped the PS but I imagine it's equally good. So unless there's a big upgrade I won't be buying any new console that isn't Nintendo.

I'm sure this PS5 Pro is Jim Ryan's doing because it doesn't make much sense this gen.

Past gen, consoles had tablet CPUs and devs were vocal about it. The generation felt boring out of the gate and production costs were down and allowed the console makers to cut costs of the launch consoles and launch the Pro consoles above it.

This generation, they have actually increased prices due to costs and we still don't have any price cuts this far into the generation, add to that production costs are up.

Where are you going to price these consoles? Lower base console prices and lose money? Price them high and make it a niche product?

Doesn't seem smart to launch pro consoles this generation unless you don't intend to make any money on them and don't care if you lose money to be the most powerful. With such thin margins, that's not what Sony should be focused on

Not only that, they are launching it with no first party exclusive games.

From my understanding, Sony wants to launch PS5 Pro whenever GTA6 is released.

I don't see what's the difference between mid gen refresh or next-gen anymore. Devs have only now stopped supporting last gen so what difference does it make? They can easily market it as next-gen or mid gen. Nothing really will change, gone are the days of substantial jumps in performance so at this point in time it's basically whatever the marketing department will come up with.

Its confusing (and almost frustrating if it wasn't hilarious at the same time) that fanboys just want their "team" to win, no matter the cost.

There's no money to be made in hardware unless you're Apple. Even TV manufacturers barely break even on hardware and make money selling their panels to cheaper brands.

As you said, traditionally you rely on software to drive the hardware, but they aren't even launching with that this year. Its almost like they are choosing propaganda over profits. Sure, you'll sell the most consoles and have more market share (and your fanboys will rejoice), but you BOUGHT that win with your profits and shady deals.

This is why I like Hiroki Totoki coming in when I usually prefer gaming guys to run the consoles. He knows that the numbers have to work at the end of the day and not just winning the console war.

I would imagine that launching the hardware is good for the gaming media cycle, but lets see if they also write articles when Sony's margins get even thinner and they start to close more studios.

Hopefully the rumors are true and the new Xbox is just a refresh and not a Pro, MS needs to be significantly cheaper than Sony if they hope to gain any ground this generation.

With great feet too!

Could be this rumoured handheld. Apparently MS want in on the Switch/Deck action so perhaps that.

Series S spec'ed handheld would be a good move.

Yeah it could be quite interesting. If they can get it up to XSS level of performance then that would be a nice win. It could be difficult to cool and pricey though. Also battery life....a tough technical challenge. Gaming handhelds are always very tough to get right.

If they can do a great job with x86 on ARM, it might be able to address the concerns you mentioned.

It would be interesting to see them (or anyone) try.

At the moment though I reckon the overhead of emulating X86 on ARM would more than offset any advantage an ARM CPU would bring.

The last I heard of such an attempt was with Apple and their Rosetta layer when they transitioned to ARM and, even with the limited app support needed for Apple, it was janky.

In terms of raw performance, i think the likes of the ROG ally is right up there with the XSS. But if they were to put that chip in an Xbox handheld (and setting aside cost concerns for a sec) it could mean a significant retesting and shader recompilation effort for all xbox games. Doable but not cheap.

I think that you are aware there can't be a PS5 Pro exclusive game only, yes.

I am incredibly ambivalent to either of the supposed pro-models.

Wasn’t this already leaked with the Xbox Brooklyn concept?