Possible Xbox Series X prototype leaks on Twitter

Despite having tons of great games, 2019 was a low-key year for video games. 2020, on the other hand, is going to be huge. Not only do we have games like Cyberpunk 2077, Final Fantasy VII, Avengers, and Doom Eternal on the way, there are two new consoles coming. Microsoft gave us a look at the Xbox Series X last month at the Game Awards, but now a very convincing prototype has leaked online.

It's a good hoax if nothing else

Twitter user Doug_DragoX posted two photographs of the prototype system online earlier this week. We see lots of fan-made renders of upcoming consoles and phones. It's hard to avoid guesses at what the PlayStation 5 might look like. This is a physical piece of hardware, though, and if it is a hoax, then Doug_DragoX has gone a long way toward making it very convincing.

@IdleSloth1984 @blueisviolet @XcloudTimdog pic.twitter.com/qmVlhTTaqi

- Doug - XBOX SERIES X (@Doug_DragoX) January 22, 2020

The front of the system matches what we've seen identically, with the standard Microsoft touches of a single USB port and IR receiver, and the plastic has that flawless matte finish that makes it look professionally manufactured.

The back of the system, though, is more interesting. As expected, we have a lot more ventilation for cooling. The printed-on prototype is especially convincing. As one user in the comments for the post noted, you can register the serial with Microsoft as a generic Microsoft device.

Let's talk about the ports, though. The port loadout matches the loadout revealed by Brad Sams over at Thurrott.com a couple of weeks back: two USB SuperSpeed ports, an Ethernet port, a two-prong power plug, an S/PDIF optical audio port, a single HDMI port, and a currently unknown port. The last two are the most interesting.

One HDMI, one mystery

We've long assumed that the second HDMI port that Microsoft touted for the Xbox One would disappear when it came time to release a new system. The Xbox One's media center aspirations have long-since died, and only 10 of us are still using that second HDMI port. This seems to confirm we're only getting one of them.

The other aspect is that mystery port, and at this point we can only guess at what it'll be. It could be that this is a development kit and that's simply a debug port. It seems unlikely that it's some kind of proprietary connector whether for AR, VR, or whatever else. Microsoft worked hard to remove proprietary ports with the Xbox One generation, going to a standardized power connector and removing the Kinect port or the Xbox One S and Xbox One X. Adding in a new proprietary port when everything is switching to USB Type-C seems highly unlikely.

Possible Storage Expansion

Talking with friends who follow this stuff, I suggested that the mystery slot could be a storage expansion port. One of the big aspects that both Microsoft and Sony are touting for this next generation is the switch to ultra-fast NVMe drives that enable games to both load-in and stream data faster. In light of that, plugging even a really nice external drive seems to negate that benefit.

I wondered if it could be an NVMe slot, but I was reminded that the NVMe connector is pretty flimsy. It's possible that Microsoft could offer some kind of proprietary cartridge option or even an empty cartridge to drop a drive into. Microsoft crowed about supporting external storage throughout the life of the Xbox One, so offering a way to add in more super-fast storage seems possible. It's tough to tell how far into the Xbox this port goes, too. This is pure speculation based on past behavior and philosophy, so you should take it with enough salt to make your doctor worry.

The rest of the system's jackpack is pretty cut and dry, though, and it seems likely that this leak is some version of an official Xbox Series X.

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