If Microsoft recently confirmed that its next-gen Xbox Series X console will launch in November, the company has yet to announce its cheaper alternative, the Xbox Series S, also codenamed “Lockhart”. This second next-gen Xbox console previously appeared in official documentation for developers as well as on the packaging for the next-gen Xbox controller to be released alongside the Xbox Series X and presumably, the Xbox Series S.
Earlier today, Twitter user BravaryBrendan tweeted a picture of an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate trial code sheet mentioning the “Xbox Series X/S consoles.”
the latest regular Xbox One controllers now mention "Xbox Series S" in the Xbox Game Pass sheet. At least we're now in the month of September https://t.co/8QwFRcca33
— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) September 1, 2020
According to previous reports, the Xbox Series S will share many of the Xbox Series X’s components, including a custom AMD Zen 2-based CPU and custom NVMe SSD. However, the Xbox Series S GPU is expected to deliver just 4 teraflops of computing power compared to 12 on the Xbox Series X. As a result, Microsoft is expected to position the Xbox Series S as an affordable next-gen option for 1080p gaming, delivering a better experience than the now-deprecated Xbox One X thanks to a faster SSD and a more modern GPU and CPU.
With the Xbox Series X set to launch in November, Microsoft probably won’t wait too long before officially announcing the Xbox Series S, as well as pricing details for the new console. A lot of details about the Xbox Series S have leaked in the past couple of months, but it’s quite impressive that the full hardware, which is presumably already in production, hasn’t leaked yet.
According to a previous report, the Xbox Series S could look more like the Xbox One S/X than the Xbox Series X. As the Xbox One X has now been discontinued, it could make sense for the company to re-purpose its existing Xbox One X manufacturing capabilities for Xbox Series S consoles going forward.
