Microsoft may be planning to refresh its Xbox Series S console earlier than the Xbox Series X with AMD’s new 6nm APUs, alleges Moore’s Law is Dead. The leaker has posted a series of new info on next-generation consoles from Sony and Microsoft in which he discusses what he has learned and what he believes are going to be the strategies adopted by both console makers for their refreshed generation.
Microsoft Xbox Series S Refresh In 2022, Xbox Series X Refresh In 2023 To Utilize AMD’s New 6nm APUs
According to MLID, Microsoft seems to be readying its refresh lineup starting with the Xbox Series S console first. This is being done to tackle the PlayStation 5 Slim which is expected to launch around a similar timeframe in late 2022. The new Xbox Series S console is said to be a higher-spec’d variant of the existing Xbox Series S console.
The reason to get the new Xbox Series S console out so early is that Microsoft sees a higher attach rate to its Xbox Game Pass on the Xbox Series S compared to the Xbox Series X. Since the company, allegedly, operates the Xbox brand as a SaaS (Software as a Service) which relies entirely on its pass sales, they want more consumers to grab the game pass and to do that, they want to release a new and better Xbox Series S which would not only give new users an incentive to upgrade but will also result in dropping the prices on the existing Xbox Series S to around $189-$249 US which will drive in more users towards the Xbox platform, even if they use it as a secondary console.
The rumor states that the new Microsoft Xbox Series S is aiming at a price point of under $350 USD that would undercut the Sony PlayStation 5. The new console could get a nice spec boost from the latest 6nm AMD APU which might unlock its full 24 CU RDNA 2 GPU. The reason stated for disabling the cores in the first place is said to be early 7nm yields but now that 7nm is mature & 6nm is more or less an optimized version of 7nm, we could see AMD ship out much faster APU designs that are unlocked and feature higher clock speeds.
The existing Xbox Series S ships with 4 TFLOPs of compute power so a 6nm refresh may end with at least >5 TFLOPs of Compute power. At under $350 US, it would be a great gaming console choice & should give Sony’s PlayStation 5 Slim a tough time. The Xbox Series X will also be getting a similar treatment with a 6nm refresh planned for late 2023 though no word on the specifications or price is mentioned for the flagship SKU.