Microsoft's next all-new Xbox console could have Arm not x86 CPU cores
The recent and accidental Microsoft document and email dump, courtesy of its legal wranglings with the FTC, is turning out to be the mother of all console leaks. Along with game roadmaps extending out as far as 2030, including revenue forecasts for specific game titles, and juicy insights into upcoming refreshes for the Xbox Series X and S consoles, there are details concerning the next all-new Xbox console, due in 2028. The biggie? Microsoft is seriously considering a switch away from x86 CPU cores to Arm.
If that happens, it begs all kinds of question. Does that imply that Xbox is diverging away from the PC as a gaming platform? Or would the move presage a jump from x86 chips to Arm for the PC, too?
Some of the details in the leaked documents are less exciting than they superficially seem. For instance, at the time the documents were composed in 2022 Microsoft was planning on using AMD's Navi 5 graphics tech. That's two generations ahead of current AMD graphics cards.
Exciting, right? Well, yes. But given the time frames involved, it's also inevitable. The console is slated for 2028, so it's bound to use graphics hardware a few generations hence.
Moreover, the mere fact that MS plans to use a future AMD graphics technology is not only a given, it also doesn't tell us anything about the technology's capabilities. The documents do include some details revealing Microsoft's aspirations for the graphics core, including next-gen ray tracing, global illumination and AI-accelerated upscaling. But those are all pretty obvious extrapolations of existing graphics capabilities.
No, the only real bombshell is the explicit consideration Microsoft is giving to a switch from existing x86 CPU cores to Arm cores. Specifically, the
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