Rumors have been circulating for a while now about ‘new versions’ of the Xbox One. Today, new rumors have surfaced that indicate Microsoft may be readying a more powerful version of the Xbox One in 2017. Along with this a cheaper and smaller version of the Xbox One that will release later this year.
Anonymous sources explained to Kotaku that the more powerful Xbox One will have a more robust GPU, which may be capable of supporting virtual reality devices like the Oculus Rift. Something like this would make sense. Microsoft has no virtual reality headset of their own, and have shown somewhat of an alliance with the company.
The report also suggests that this more powerful Xbox’s specs are not set in stone at this point. However, an anonymous insider claims that the console was shown off to third parties in a “secret event” last week.
There are quite a few technological advances that the current Xbox One cannot handle. Virtual reality is one of them, but the other is the capability to handle 4K resolution. A more powerful Xbox One may be able to handle both. Given the fact that this current model has already fallen way behind the curve in terms of horsepower when compared to PC, 2017 might be the true beginning of the “next generation.”
While these rumors suggest that the more powerful Xbox One will arrive in 2017, the smaller, cheaper box we’ll call the Xbox One Slim is rumored to be debuted at E3 2016. Sources of this rumor suggest that storage space will be increased, upped to 2TB, but little else was divulged.
If recent rumors from Sony and Microsoft camps hold true, this may be an incredibly short console generation. Though the ability to handle virtual reality and 4K will be fantastic advancements for console gaming, it’s unfortunate the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One weren’t future-proofed back in 2013.
Any console news from Microsoft and possible confirmation of these Xbox One rumors will likely arrive at their press conference on Monday June 13th.
- This article was updated on March 9th, 2018
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