Microsoft may be preparing an “improved” Xbox Series X chip
The Xbox Series X was launched in 2012, just two years ago. According to Brad Sams on his YouTube channel, Microsoft may be already working on an improved version of the Xbox Series X chips. This could indicate that Microsoft is looking to improve their Xbox Series X board designs or develop a new chip that could be used in a refreshed” Xbox Series X console. However, we believe that the former is coming a little too early in the console’s lifespan. Below is the Sams video.
Sams states that Microsoft is constantly trying to improve the performance of the chip and reduce costs. This has been seen in previous console generations. Small chip revisions are silently released for consoles to improve performance and reduce manufacturing costs. Microsoft’s most popular console revision is the Xbox 360 Jaguar model. It was immune from the extensive Red Ring of Death issues the console experienced.
These revisions are something all console manufacturers do, and it is not too exciting to get hyped about.
Companies are always trying to improve the yield, cost, and thermal output of chips they develop for new consoles. This is not a sign that the Xbox Series X is being ‘improved’. The Xbox Series X is still too young in its lifecycle to upgrade. With the Xbox One X, Microsoft has made improvements to its consoles in the past. We will undoubtedly see the same with the Xbox Series X.
They may be already working on an improved console. However, the chip Sams refers to is likely to be a simple revision to the board and not a spec-bump across it. This will allow games to run much more smoothly than the standard Xbox Series X. Foundries such as TSMC who made the Xbox Series X chip, will have already booked the time to make new nodes for any revisions that Microsoft may be making. We don’t think this is anything to be excited about yet. There is no indication that it will lead to a new console.
Likely, the Series X successor is still under development. However, as of right now there are no hints as to how this console will look, what technology it will bring, or what performance improvements you can expect. This is unlikely to happen until Microsoft incorporates AMD’s rDNA 3 into a new SoC. That’s the only thing that could actually give a performance boost, along with Zen 4 processors. These are not yet available, so it is possible that the performance boost any SOC develops with RDNA3 and Zen4 might not be enough to convince Microsoft to make a revision based on them both.
Microsoft may want to wait to release any new consoles, considering that stock issues have been a constant feature of the Xbox One X. It took them around five years to make the base Xbox One better.
There isn’t enough evidence to suggest that this will be a meaningful update for the console. It’s not a simple board change, as we’ve seen many times over console generations. TSMC is currently full at their foundries. This means that if Microsoft wanted to buy time at TSMC for a new chip, they would need a large amount of cash. If the console was to develop on a different node then they will have to deal with potential yield issues.
We can say that the Xbox Series X’s successor will be built on TSMC’s N3 node. This is currently ready to be used by Apple’s upcoming chips in 2023 and 2024. This allows Microsoft to build an improved node based on the process, and then wait for it mature before signing it off and sending it to TSMC. Keep in mind that these types of things take years to complete. So even if they are working on a revision now, it might not be available until 2025. This is speculation, and it is not connected to Brad Sams’s news about the chip revision. We believe this isn’t related to any new console that Microsoft is announcing soon.
