News XBOX Series S trailer leaked

[Hans de Vries]

Wow $299
1440p gameplay at up to 120Hz
Upscaling to 4k, 512GB SSD.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1303252607759130624

And it's official now:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1303230071033880576

 

[shortylickens]

Shame it's not got an optical drive. So much easier to pick up cheap physical copies of old console games, and it's handy to have a Blu Ray player.

I have too much stuff on disc to buy something like that.

 

[piokos]

Shame it's not got an optical drive. So much easier to pick up cheap physical copies of old console games, and it's handy to have a Blu Ray player.

You should check out Xbox Store sales from time to time. Games can be had for a fraction of the normal price. I bought around 20 older games (some Xbox One, some Xbox 360) for less than $3 each.

Digital with only 512GB SSD... those expansion cards will be mandatory.

That depends. If many people use a console and each one plays something different, it could be a problem.
But realistically, 512GB should be enough for 5 large or 10+ smaller games. So unless you're a person who plays something different every day, it's not really a big issue.
If you have a decent internet connection, reinstalling a large game (100GB) takes half an hour or so. Acceptable.
And, inevitably, MS will add a 1TB option at some point.

Also, we know for sure (since both MS and Sony have been very vocal about it), that the massive SoC and fast SSD will make better file compression possible - meaning games should shrink considerably.

I'm definitely going to replace my One S with Series S - very likely in the $25 plan.

I have too much stuff on disc to buy something like that.

That sounds like being tied to a legacy device. Just convert whatever you can. Optical readers will go away at some point.

 

[beginner99]

Can it output 4k HDR, eg. is it usable as a media streamer? And what are the apps supported? My smart tv isn't that smart as certain formats or subtitles imply won't play. Especially the subtitles are annyoing (nenglish isn't my native language and understanding depending on the actor can sometimes be problematic)

 

[Kenmitch]

Microsoft finally caved in.

Xbox Series X Finally Gets a Price: Microsoft Reveals $499 Price Tag

Microsoft beats Sony to a price reveal on its next-gen flagship.

www.tomshardware.com

https://twitter.com/x/status/1303680112156524544

 

[blckgrffn]

Can it output 4k HDR, eg. is it usable as a media streamer? And what are the apps supported? My smart tv isn't that smart as certain formats or subtitles imply won't play. Especially the subtitles are annyoing (nenglish isn't my native language and understanding depending on the actor can sometimes be problematic)

xbox one has all the apps and great HDR support for apps (includes Dolby Vision HDR, which it does not for UHD discs)

I'd say the problems are usually performance related for me. It gets buggy unless it shuts all the way down, sleep mode leads to app crashes. So it takes a day to start up.

The new xboxs shouldn't have that issue at all. CPU is so much faster, storage is crazy fast and the GPU should have native decode for everything under the sun so you don't have to worry about Plex transcode overhead, etc. That's what I am expecting, anyway.

I am hoping they update the app for UHD/blu-ray playback to full support DV HDR and that gets back ported to my One S. If they don't support that out of the box on Series X, expect a small but very vocal UHD enthusiast army to get very agitated.

 

[Asterox]

Same 8 core Zen 2 CPU as with Series X, 20 CU GPU.

Or in more detail, identical APU(Renoir Zen 2/CPU version) but most likely with only 20CU enabled.

Page 21 - Zen 2 APUs/"Renoir" discussion thread

Page 21 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

forums.anandtech.com

 

[purbeast0]

Showing all these old (current) games on the Series S is supposed to get who excited? Their whole marketing direction is basically saying "hey we have all this really cool cutting edge technology that you can play all of your old games with". Yeah good luck with that.

 

[blckgrffn]

Showing all these old (current) games on the Series S is supposed to get who excited? Their whole marketing direction is basically saying "hey we have all this really cool cutting edge technology that you can play all of your old games with". Yeah good luck with that.

I think they really want people to see it as $25 per month box that gets you Game Pass Ultimate and access to over ~400 games at launch with EA pass counted too.

It's the subscription box. I am guessing games that have a "Enhanced for One X" version will expose all those bells and whistles (at sub 4k resolutions) on this model, so it should have good uplift in visuals for the majority of current xbox owners.

The Series X is "only" $35 per month for the same, but if you are buying this for your kid or even on a actual budget and just want to play Destiny with your friends and don't want to be the last one in the zone, I think it's a win.

From a merchandising standpoint, it's important to have another SKU that this is cheaper than so people can mentally tell themselves "well, I am using self control and saving $10 per month! I am a functioning adult! I feel good about this transaction!"

That's what, $10 more per month than Game Pass Ultimate anyway?

 

[piokos]

Showing all these old (current) games on the Series S is supposed to get who excited? Their whole marketing direction is basically saying "hey we have all this really cool cutting edge technology that you can play all of your old games with". Yeah good luck with that.

Are you going to write this in every Xbox Series thread on this forum?

It's not a product for you, fine. Don't buy it. There are countless products I don't need (guns, wheelchairs, tampons...) and I managed to survive without even signing up on Tampax user forum.

 

[purbeast0]

I think they really want people to see it as $25 per month box that gets you Game Pass Ultimate and access to over ~400 games at launch with EA pass counted too.

It's the subscription box. I am guessing games that have a "Enhanced for One X" version will expose all those bells and whistles (at sub 4k resolutions) on this model, so it should have good uplift in visuals for the majority of current xbox owners.

The Series X is "only" $35 per month for the same, but if you are buying this for your kid or even on a actual budget and just want to play Destiny with your friends and don't want to be the last one in the zone, I think it's a win.

From a merchandising standpoint, it's important to have another SKU that this is cheaper than so people can mentally tell themselves "well, I am using self control and saving $10 per month! I am a functioning adult! I feel good about this transaction!"

That's what, $10 more per month than Game Pass Ultimate anyway?

But you can already do all of this right now with the X1.

 

[purbeast0]

Are you going to write this in every Xbox Series thread on this forum?

It's not a product for you, fine. Don't buy it. There are countless products I don't need (guns, wheelchairs, tampons...) and I managed to survive without even signing up on Tampax user forum.

To be fair these threads should be merged. I'm just a console fanboy so I have interest in all things console.

 

[blckgrffn]

But you can already do all of this right now with the X1.

Not sure if serious - you can get get a One X+ performance level console right now for $25 per month with Game Pass Ultimate?

All I see are Xbox One S models at full MSRP, ($300) no bundles.

 

[insertcarehere]

Price looks good at $300 (so far anyways) but some of MS's technical choices for the console are puzzling....splitting up the 10GB into a fast/slow pool when the fast pool is only 224GB/s (~PS4P speed) is probably gonna bite developers later on. It's weird that they didn't emulate PS5-esque dynamic boost to maximize performance for the small SoC as well given 1.55ghz GPU is slow by RDNA2 standards and no Xbox game will fully need 8 3+ghz Zen 2 cores (and assoc. Power budget) for a while.

 

[purbeast0]

Not sure if serious - you can get get a One X+ performance level console right now for $25 per month with Game Pass Ultimate?

All I see are Xbox One S models at full MSRP, ($300) no bundles.

You can get Xbox One S for $23/month with ultimate game pass included. This has been around for like 1 or 2 years, and they actually used to be a tad cheaper.

So you can already get the current Xbox that plays the current library for a monthly fee.

 

[blckgrffn]

Price looks good at $300 (so far anyways) but some of MS's technical choices for the console are puzzling....splitting up the 10GB into a fast/slow pool when the fast pool is only 224GB/s (~PS4P speed) is probably gonna bite developers later on. It's weird that they didn't emulate PS5-esque dynamic boost to maximize performance for the small SoC as well given 1.55ghz GPU is slow by RDNA2 standards and no Xbox game will fully need 8 3+ghz Zen 2 cores (and assoc. Power budget) for a while.

It would seem to me, in that packaging, they were really paying close attention to power dissipation/thermals, not to mention keeping the power brick as small as possible, etc. To hit $300 and make money some stuff had to be tweaked pretty hard I am sure.

Yeah, the PS5 seems to be playing it smarter offering a more system wide power budget but that's dynamic and blah blah blah on that.

 

[blckgrffn]

You can get Xbox One S for $23/month with ultimate game pass included. This has been around for like 1 or 2 years, and they actually used to be a tad cheaper.

That's a relic though... if it was the One X it might a little closer, but still pretty far off the mark.

 

[purbeast0]

That's a relic though... if it was the One X it might a little closer, but still pretty far off the mark.

Of course now it is. It's a couple years old.

But it's like being surprised you can get the new iPhone X for $30/month when it comes out and calling that a good deal when you could also get the iPhone 8 for $30/month for the 2 years prior to it coming out.

It still plays the exact same library. And sure right now Series S/X are "next gen" but in 2 months they will be current gen, playing last gen games with higher resolution as the major selling point.

 

[blckgrffn]

Of course now it is. It's a couple years old.

But it's like being surprised you can get the new iPhone X for $30/month when it comes out and calling that a good deal when you could also get the iPhone 8 for $30/month for the 2 years prior to it coming out.

It still plays the exact same library. And sure right now Series S/X are "next gen" but in 2 months they will be current gen, playing last gen games with higher resolution as the major selling point.

Well, these are fine points to split.

I think this new offering offers a lot of value, yup. More than what is currently available even.

The One S is *4* years old and is an iteration on a *7* year old console.

It would be more like saying an iPhone 5S is available right now for $28 a month, why is everyone so excited that in a few weeks we can get a an iPhone 12 for $30 a month? They're both iPhones.

You know, running the same(ish) software and mostly the same apps. What's the fuss?

Apple doesn't even bother having new phone exclusive games *or* software at launch either, really, if you are only a gen or three back. Yet people get excited.

What we can hope is that this SKU helps pull the MS ecosystem forward faster so we can get more and more next-gen (soon to be current gen!) exclusives. If too many linger on the old hardware, MS might extend out their compatibility. It's already going to span 9 years, I think we can all agree that nearly a decade is long enough

 

[Roland00Address]

do we know what's in it?

Here is more up to date information that Microsoft just dropped to The Verge and other websites with detailed specs.

Microsoft reveals Xbox Series S specs, promises four times the processing power of Xbox One

The Xbox Series S has a different GPU than the Series X

www.theverge.com

 

[blckgrffn]

Here is more up to date information that Microsoft just dropped to The Verge and other websites with detail specs.
View attachment 29510

Microsoft reveals Xbox Series S specs, promises four times the processing power of Xbox One

The Xbox Series S has a different GPU than the Series X

www.theverge.com

Seems like an arbitrary reduction in clock speed in the CPU. Is it configured like that just for segmentation purposes?

Otherwise the leaks seem to have been spot on for some time now.

“RAM is 10GB GDDR6 total, still has 2 speed groups, but much less bandwidth. Series S has 8GB @ 224 GB/s vs 10 GB @ 560 GB/s and then 2GB @ 56 GB/s vs 6GB @ 336 GB/s. Looks like bandwidth per 1GB is essentially cut in half. Series S has 28 GB/s per 1GB and Series X has 56 GB/s per 1GB.”

And this. Honestly (for no great reason) I am surprised. I thought they would just leave the 10GB pool as it was and simply remove the second 6 GB slow pool. 🤷‍♂️

 

[purbeast0]

Well, these are fine points to split.

I think this new offering offers a lot of value, yup. More than what is currently available even.

The One S is *4* years old and is an iteration on a *7* year old console.

It would be more like saying an iPhone 5S is available right now for $28 a month, why is everyone so excited that in a few weeks we can get a an iPhone 12 for $30 a month? They're both iPhones.

You know, running the same(ish) software and mostly the same apps. What's the fuss?

Apple doesn't even bother having new phone exclusive games *or* software at launch either, really, if you are only a gen or three back. Yet people get excited.

What we can hope is that this SKU helps pull the MS ecosystem forward faster so we can get more and more next-gen (soon to be current gen!) exclusives. If too many linger on the old hardware, MS might extend out their compatibility. It's already going to span 9 years, I think we can all agree that nearly a decade is long enough

My point is you were acting like all of a sudden paying $x/month to play current gen games on current gen hardware is some awesome new way to game, when I am just letting you know that this has been a thing MS has done prior to series S and X.

And you aren't going to get any exclusives for 18+ months for Series S and X. MS has already started that. It will probably be 2+ years before seeing that.

 

[Asterox]

Hm, that is not much larger compared to Ryzen 7 4800H 8/16 Renoir APU =156 mm2.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1303745295382126594

 

[blckgrffn]

My point is you were acting like all of a sudden paying $x/month to play current gen games on current gen hardware is some awesome new way to game, when I am just letting you know that this has been a thing MS has done prior to series S and X.

And you aren't going to get any exclusives for 18+ months for Series S and X. MS has already started that. It will probably be 2+ years before seeing that.

Based on announced pricing it seems pretty solid. It’s like getting a spanking new console for $240 when it launches instead of being 5-7 years old for the same price.

Are you also saying just because I can buy a 7 year old console for $300 now and in a few weeks I can buy a $300 console that is waaaay more capable and has an exciting future ahead of it instead of being a dead end, I should also have zero enthusiasm?

About that we will just disagree.

The exclusive stuff is just whatever man. I don’t get sad that all my steam games work but run better when I upgrade my PC either, despite all my games being functional but slower on my old PC.

MS basically has no first party exclusives, I don’t see that as part of the attraction at this point. That is Sony’s domain now.

If you care about the MS ecosystem you want a lot of these to sell quickly so that many titles come with solid enhancements, and that 3rd parties see value in doing next gen exclusive launches too.

 

[purbeast0]

Based on announced pricing it seems pretty solid. It’s like getting a spanking new console for $240 when it launches instead of being 5-7 years old for the same price.

Are you also saying just because I can buy a 7 year old console for $300 now and in a few weeks I can buy a $300 console that is waaaay more capable and has an exciting future ahead of it instead of being a dead end, I should also have zero enthusiasm?

About that we will just disagree.

The exclusive stuff is just whatever man. I don’t get sad that all my steam games work but run better when I upgrade my PC either, despite all my games being functional but slower on my old PC.

MS basically has no first party exclusives, I don’t see that as part of the attraction at this point. That is Sony’s domain now.

If you care about the MS ecosystem you want a lot of these to sell quickly so that many titles come with solid enhancements, and that 3rd parties see value in doing next gen exclusive launches too.

Yeah if you are excited for it go for it. I'm not here to try and convince anyone otherwise.

I just get excited for games that aren't out yet that I can't play now. I don't get excited to play games I could have played for the past few years if I wanted to, on new hardware. I mean in that Series X video, they are hyping up Gears 5 playing at 120fps. Like wow - you can now play a game that has been out for a year with better performance on newer hardware. That just does nothing for me.

And you are right about MS having no exclusives. That is a big reason IMO as to why the X1 has sold so much less than PS5 and Switch.

If they just had 1 exclusive game coming out at launch, just one, that looked somewhat interesting to me, I would purchase one. I spent $800 at X1 launch for 1 game. And it was a $20 DLC game that was incomplete at launch.

 

[Aikouka]

Shame it's not got an optical drive. So much easier to pick up cheap physical copies of old console games, and it's handy to have a Blu Ray player.

I think it definitely provides a benefit to people that have been with Xbox Live Gold for a while. Pretty much every free 360 and One game that you've gotten will play on this thing. (At one point, Microsoft started ensuring that the free 360 games were One-compatible, which means they'll work on Series S/X too.)

Digital with only 512GB SSD... those expansion cards will be mandatory.

I would suggest that people use external storage. From what I recall, with the Series S/X, you are allowed to run any previous generation off an external storage device, but Series games have to be run off a Series-compatible drive (i.e. the internal storage or an applicable expansion card). Although, I believe you can move a Series game to the external drive for storage purposes, but it just can't be played.