We are still a couple of years away from the next-generation of Xbox and PlayStation consoles, but the rumors are starting to pile up. This week, some new leaks surfaced regarding the PlayStation 6 and its rumored companion handheld, as well as Microsoft's potential plans for the next Xbox.
Starting with Sony, regular leaker KeplerL2 posted (via Videocardz) in the NEoGAF forums that the PS6 could feature 32GB of DDR7 memory, double that of the 16GB of GDDR6. Meanwhile, the rumored handheld could feature 24GB of LPDDR5X memory, which would match Windows handheld configurations for a higher-end mobile console.
Both leaks imply that Sony's next console and handheld will be able to run heavy games with no memory constraints.
It's no real surprise that the next PlayStation will be more powerful than its predecessor. The worry is that so much memory will make the PS6 extremely expensive, with the ongoing RAM crisis not expected to abate until 2028 at the earliest.
However, Sony isn't expected to launch the PS6 until 2028, maybe late 2027. Perhaps that delay will give the company time to reduce costs or for memory manufacturers to catch up to AI demand.
The nexBox
At the start of February, AMD's CEO Lisa Su surprisingly revealed that the next Xbox featuring an AMD SoC could launch in 2027. Allegedly, that was a surprise to even Microsoft, per our friends at Windows Central. It contradicted previous Microsoft comments and documents that revealed that the next Xbox was slated for 2028.
"I'm told Microsoft insiders were a little taken off-guard by Lisa Su's comments on Xbox's Gen-10 timeline," Jez Corden reported.
From our own rumor reporting and other sources, the big change between the Series X and the next generation is a focus on a hybrid console/PC. Xbox president Sarah Bond previously hinted that the new console would be "a very premium, very high-end curated experience."
The big rumor from Windows Central is that Microsoft is working with OEMs, like Asus, to build a "variety of options" that would span a wide range of price points. This hints at a gaming laptop-esque future where you could have a high-end, say Razer-built Xbox, but also a lower-end model.
The difference here is that Xbox would become more of a branding exercise and a launcher rather than hardware. Corden is reporting that Microsoft wants to make an "Xbox interface" on top of Windows, similar to how it works on the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X handheld PC console, which launched this past October.
While the PS6 might be a more traditional power-step forward, the Xbox could be, as the ads say, "anything."
We'll likely find out more about both next-gen consoles soon enough, so stay tuned to Tom's Guide for the latest news, leaks and rumors.
Follow Tom's Guide on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds.
