Support NeoGAF

[Bernoulli]

An Xbox Series S hardware refresh was planned at some point, but the project was ultimately canned due to some concerns, according to rumors circulating online.

According to RedGamingTech, the Xbox Series S hardware refresh was planned to feature an RDNA 3-based GPU, a general increase to specs, more RAM, and even some machine learning features meant to power upscaling. The project, however, was canned quite early, so much so that even the system's APU wasn't fully fleshed out. An Xbox Series X refresh was also planned, but it was canned even earlier than the other refresh.


As for why the Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X hardware refreshes were canned, sources told RedGamingTech that it was due to a couple of concerns. First, Microsoft and some other developers were concerned about SKU saturation, as having four SKUs on the market at the same time would have led to a variety of issues. Additionally, regarding the Xbox Series S hardware refresh, there were also marketing concerns, as it would have been difficult to market a console that was more powerful than the base model but not as powerful as the Xbox Series X.

Xbox Series S Refresh Featuring Machine Learning Was Canned Due to SKU Saturation, Marketing Concerns

An Xbox Series S hardwar refresh was planned at some point, but ultimately canned due to SKu saturation and marketing concerns

wccftech.com

 

[Kilau]

Already a bad idea, send in more SKUs!

 

[Senua]

An Xbox Series S hardware refresh was planned at some point, but the project was ultimately canned due to some concerns, according to rumors circulating online.

According to RedGamingTech...

 

[Tsaki]

"According to RedGamingTech..."

 

[geary]

With what happened these last days, arent you tired of rumors?

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

With what happened these last days, arent you tired of rumors?

what happened ?

 

[ManaByte]

According to RedGamingTech

 

[Dr. Wilkinson]

Yeah. Surprise it was ever even greenlit. Stick to Slims, Minis, and lower power consumption. Enough with the splintered userbase bullshit. The Pro consoles were barely better than their OG counterparts anyway last-gen because having to accommodate for the base consoles meant actually developers couldn’t really do much more. I’ll never fall for the PS4 Pro/ Xbox Scorpio proposition ever again. Same if Nintendo had done a Switch Pro. No thanks. I’ll wait for proper next-gen.

 

[ShaiKhulud1989]

The source is ass.

The whole idea is no better.

 

[Papa_Wisdom]

Yeah. Surprise it was ever even greenlit. Stick to Slims, Minis, and lower power consumption. Enough with the splintered userbase bullshit. The Pro consoles were barely better than their OG counterparts anyway last-gen because having to accommodate for the base consoles meant actually developers couldn’t really do much more. I’ll never fall for the PS4 Pro/ Xbox Scorpio proposition ever again. Same if Nintendo had done a Switch Pro. No thanks. I’ll wait for proper next-gen.

I think the one x was a fairly good upgrade over the og one (didn’t own a PS4 pro)

The back cat upgrades we got for og/360 games were really good. So we’re some of the 4K updates etc we got for native games. Just a shame that nothing could have been made for it exclusively to show off what it really could have done. I guess if you invested in one you always knew that would be the case (same with the PS4 pro)

This time around though I will not be investing in any pro consoles and will wait for next gen, or go full pc

 

[El Muerto]

So, instead of having a Series X pro, we would of got a Xbox Series S Pro.

 

[Die Namek Ability]

So, instead of having a Series X pro, we would of got a Xbox Series S Pro.

Which would have been a digital series x

 

[ShirAhava]

The BS rumors and Microsoft's actual plans are the same level of stupid

 

[SHA]

Less hardware, more contents, makes sense, ms can't runaway with their issues, it's stupid actually to put 4 skus on the market, sounds a lot worse than wii u if it really happen.

 

[Ozriel]

We need to enforce more responsible thread titles.
If something is a rumor, that should really be clearly stated in the title.

 

[nick776]

This is old news, there was an article about this back in 2022. The original plan was for Xbox (at least according to the older articles) to create a "cheaper" Series X alternative that basically out-performed using upscaling. It was supposed to replace the Series S entirely, and possibly even the Series X at the same time. The original article from two years ago mentioned the idea was canned also.

 

[HundredThousandTrillion]

Where was this lesson when they decided to split this gen into two SKUs to begin with?

 

[ReBurn]

There doesn't need to be a refresh to introduce machine learning into a series console. There's nothing stopping Microsoft from doing what they're doing with literally everything else and integrating copilot services via the web in a firmware update. Chips to do meaningful local ML processing would be cost prohibitive in a video game console.

I think this rumor is mostly batshit insanity for internet attention.

 

[Mr Moose]

According to RedGamingTech

Stopped reading there. He's lying.

 

[angrod14]

So, the SeX refresh isn't coming either?

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

I am going to say there is some truth to it but how much I don't know.

Even before he left Xbox Ybarra told several of us in Discord there was a refreshed stronger Series S being looked into but I don't know the specifics.

Talked about some of that is this thread

https://www.neogaf.com/threads/rgt-...acing-innovations-release-date-specs.1632046/

This is my Tweet on it almost 2 years ago and while my wording is off I didn't mean the Series S would be stronger than the PS5 Pro



Technically they did refresh the Series S first but it wasn't any stronger.

I don't know what happened to the supposed Xbox Pro

 

[BennyBlanco]

MS is always doing dumb shit with their consoles. At one point they had Xbox One, Xbox One S, and Xbox One X.

It’s like they’re purposely trying to confuse consumers with the worst possible names for their consoles, and 3 seperate models is asking a lot of developers to support.

 

[SEGAvangelist]

RGT. LOL.

 

[Pelta88]

Source regularly posts his most whimsical thoughts as “insider info.”

 

[yurinka]

So, instead of having a Series X pro, we would of got a Xbox Series S Pro.

Why not a Xbos Super Series X Pro S J P Ultra?

 

[ReBurn]

MS is always doing dumb shit with their consoles. At one point they had Xbox One, Xbox One S, and Xbox One X.

It’s like they’re purposely trying to confuse consumers with the worst possible names for their consoles, and 3 seperate models is asking a lot of developers to support.

Microsoft discontinued production of the original Xbox One when they launched the One S. The only overlap was while they were clearing stock of the original model. They didn't market all 3 at the same time.

 

[Bernoulli]

I am going to say there is some truth to it but how much I don't know.

Even before he left Xbox Ybarra told several of us in Discord there was a refreshed stronger Series S being looked into but I don't know the specifics.

Talked about some of that is this thread

https://www.neogaf.com/threads/rgt-...acing-innovations-release-date-specs.1632046/

This is my Tweet on it almost 2 years ago and while my wording is off I didn't mean the Series S would be stronger than the PS5 Pro



Technically they did refresh the Series S first but it wasn't any stronger.

I don't know what happened to the supposed Xbox Pro

It was a good idea but to be fully utilized they need to drop support for the original S or there would be too many SKUs
It's smarter if they moved on to trying to have a portable xbox with the original Series s performance using Zen 4 and RDNA 4
That's 2 generations of efficiency improvement

 

[Drew1440]

This sound's more like a dedicated cloud streaming console where the stream is rendered in 1080p, which is then upscaled.

 

[MarkMe2525]

uhhhhh .... I followed this redtechgaming guy during the build up to PS5 and Series consoles launch, this is not someone who I would consider credible, in any fashion. I haven't digged deeply, but it seemed to me like he got one thing right a few years ago and has been spouting non-sense ever since then. IMO, there should be a huge disclaimer on in the OP. Anyways, I'm off to misterxmedia.com, so I'll check back in on this thread later

 

[CoreyFlawless]

Red gaming tech. can we stop making a post for this guy or group. Cause I swear few years ago I write this dude off. Come in like them crazy fans on PlayStation or Xbox and they always have crazy inside stuff I swear they just make up.

 

[FinalBossWithTheMostPower]

Machine Learning is supposed to do what, here?

 

[//DEVIL//]

You must be a very special kind of person to even believe in this idiot who doesn't know shit. But have the audacity to post it here. ..

Why on planet earth the mods don't ban him here !!! . Look at the posts on this thread. Get a hint.

STOP POSTING HID CRSP HERE !! FFS !!

 

[demigod]

This dude knows jackshit. He said the ps5 pro(2023) and xbox pro were coming. Him and MLiD are trying to one up each other on who the biggest clown’s are.

 

[UltimaKilo]

I can still see a refresh with newer components to bring down manufacturing costs and increase margins. Possibly a “Pro” machine, but there’s no way they upgrade the currently lineup like that (other than increasing efficiency with newer components) and keep margins the same, or worse.

 

[FunkMiller]

This guy is full of shit. The Series S was a retarded move itself. I doubt MS would flood the market with even more weak ass, pointless SKUs.

 

[mejin]

Series flopped even harder than One. It's joever. New "gen" means a new beginning.

 

[Three]

This guy is full of shit. The Series S was a retarded move itself. I doubt MS would flood the market with even more weak ass, pointless SKUs.

I think if they had gone through with this it was to stop flooding it with weakass SKUs. It would have replaced the S. They chose to continue on with the base S.

"RDNA 3-based GPU, a general increase to specs, more RAM, and even some machine learning features meant to power upscaling"

They likely went against the idea because they would have needed to develop for the S anyway so they continued on with just the S.

 

[blastprocessor]

RGT looks like a street bum.

 

[RespawnX]

I am going to say there is some truth to it but how much I don't know.

Even before he left Xbox Ybarra told several of us in Discord there was a refreshed stronger Series S being looked into but I don't know the specifics.

Talked about some of that is this thread

https://www.neogaf.com/threads/rgt-...acing-innovations-release-date-specs.1632046/

This is my Tweet on it almost 2 years ago and while my wording is off I didn't mean the Series S would be stronger than the PS5 Pro



Technically they did refresh the Series S first but it wasn't any stronger.

I don't know what happened to the supposed Xbox Pro

Dunno if even Microsoft is aware what happened to the Xbox Pro . Seems to have been canned but fits in with the performance development of (AMD) GPUs, which has been rather poor. And coming around the corner in 2026 with 25-30 Tf (and AI-Cores) makes more sense than in 2024 with 14-16 (PS5 Pro).

I can imagine that more SKUs are indeed a concern. At least if you come up with the idea of adapting the architecture. If it's just about delivering more CUs and clock speed, I don't see it as a problem. People like to point to the Series S as a negative example of problems.

If you look at the developer feedback, 4Tf was never a problem for 1080p gaming. At least not a bigger problem than targeting 4k with 10tf. In times of dynamic resolutions and upscaling this isn't an issue. It was always primarily about the thin memory interface.

In the end it seems like mid-gen with Xbox will be all about energy efficiency, reducing manufacturing costs and trying to push digital as far as possible.

 

[Clear]

More power isn't going to help!

I really do not understand why the idea that having the most powerful console hardware means a thing stubbornly refuses to go away in the face of years upon years of evidence to the contrary.

 

[IDKFA]

"RedGamingTech"

obligatory.