Comprehensive specifications have leaked for the next Xbox console, which looks set to go head-to-head with the PS6 in 2027.
With mounting leaks and teases from both Microsoft and Sony, the next gen console race is starting in earnest.
Both companies are partnering with chip manufacturer AMD, on their next consoles, and while we don’t know what Sony or Microsoft has planned specifically, they have both talked in vague terms bout the power of the new hardware, with hints of accompanying handhelds and, in Microsoft’s case, potential Steam support.
We already have a decent idea of the PlayStation 6 specs, but a leaker has now released details about what to expect from the next Xbox.
YouTuber Moore’s Law Is Dead, who accurately leaked the Nintendo Switch 2 specifications, claims the next Xbox’s APU (accelerated processing unit), which is codenamed Magnus, will be the ‘largest APU used in a gaming console in history’, at 408mm².
This is apparently ‘about 13% larger’ than the Xbox Series X and Xbox One die size, and 46% larger than the one set to be used in the PlayStation 6. As such, and as many leaks have noted already, the next Xbox should be more powerful than Sony’s next machine.
As a result, however, the next Xbox will apparently be ‘more expensive’ than the PlayStation 6, and ‘challenge the PC gaming market’ instead of being a direct competitor to Sony’s hardware.
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‘Xbox Magnus is going to be pretty expensive from the perspective of a console,’ he claims. ‘I think it will definitely cost more than $800 (£601)… I don’t think it needs to cost more than $1200 (£901).’
To support all this, there’s a comprehensive list of specifications. According to the leak, the AMD Magnus in the next Xbox will be composed of two chiplets: a 144m² system on a chip die, and a 264mm² GPU die, which adds up to 408mm².
If you want more befuddling specs, it will have 68 RDNA 5 compute units (CUs), disabled from up to 70 CU, and at least 24MB of secondary memory (L2 cache) for the GPU. Magnus will also apparently sport up to three Zen 6 cores and eight Zen 6c cores with a 12MB L3 cache.
Additionally, the leak claims the APU will have a 192-bit memory bus with up to 48GB of GDDR7 (graphics double data rate 7).
If you don’t have a degree in technical gibberish, the key takeaway, based on this leak, is the next Xbox is pushing to be a console and PC hybrid of sorts – which would be more expensive than the PlayStation 6, but notably more powerful too.
It’s long been rumoured that Xbox’s next gen devices would essentially be branded PCs, although this rumour suggests they will still contain unique components.
Moore’s Law Is Dead rounds off the specs list with further corroboration the next Xbox is on track to launch in 2027, which is when the PlayStation 6 is rumoured to arrive too.
While none of these specs have been confirmed, the PC-like approach lines up with what we know about the console – with Microsoft teasing support for multiple storefronts, like GOG, Epic Games Store, and Steam, earlier this year.
If Microsoft is targeting the PC market though, the price will likely be sky high – at a time when the company is already receiving flak for Xbox Game Pass price increases and its very expensive ROG Xbox Ally handhelds.
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