While Sony has announced its PlayStation 5 Pro mid-generation console refresh, Microsoft is betting on a wholly different strategy for Xbox. According to rumors, there will be no mid-generation console refresh akin to Xbox One X, which launched one year after the PS4 Pro and delivered top console performance.
Microsoft is instead entirely focused on the next generation of hardware. Sarah Bond, President of Xbox, has famously teased that it will deliver the biggest technological leap ever seen between console generations:
[…] we’re also invested in the next-generation roadmap. And what we’re really focused on there is delivering the largest technical leap you will have ever seen in a hardware generation, which makes it better for players and for creators and the visions that they’re building.
It is believed that Microsoft will heavily integrate machine learning techniques to achieve this bold objective, which would otherwise be nearly impossible with silicon improvements alone.
Putting aside that for a moment, though, Xbox fans are also wondering whether they will see a repeat of this generation’s dual SKU lineup with the Series S and X. Well, according to Windows Central (which is generally well-informed when it comes to Microsoft), the tech giant is planning to release a traditional console to succeed the Xbox Series X and then a separate handheld that would be Microsoft’s ‘take’ on the Steam Deck.
Indeed, the rumors of an Xbox handheld have intensified lately, with Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer also teasing that work is indeed being done on such a project. The big question on the handheld is whether it would be a Windows-based PC handheld or an actual Xbox handheld that plays console games, though the former option appears more likely at this point. Spencer mentioned Microsoft had work to do to improve the Windows handheld experience and this project could be the right time to deliver.
Currently, Microsoft is rumored to be targeting late 2026 for the launch of the next generation Xbox console. The goal would be to jump ahead of Sony’s PlayStation 6, which may not launch until 2028, and grab an advantage with a similar strategy to the Xbox 360, still Microsoft’s most successful console to date.
