The last great renewal in the world of consoles, leaving aside the Nintendo Switch, which continues with practically the same hardware as the first version, took place in 2020, in the middle of a pandemic. Microsoft and Sony launched the Xbox Series S/X and PlayStation 5 respectively.
Everything seems to indicate that Microsoft plans fast forward two years the next generation of Xbox, 2026 being the year in which we will see a new and powerful version of the console designed by Microsoft and which would be the response to the launch of the PlayStation 5 Pro planned for the last quarter of 2024.
Microsoft unofficially confirmed during its trial against the FTC in the Activision case that the next generation of Xbox will use ARND 5. In the documents that were leaked to the company from this trial, we could read that Microsoft was investigating the possibility of using the ARM64 architecture or using an AMD x64 Zen6-based design. They are also considering developing their own silicon chips, as Apple does, or licensing AMD’s GPU architecture.
If Microsoft’s idea is to bring forward the launch of the next generation of Xbox, it will have no choice but to use the Zen 5 Architecture, instead of Zen6. It is also possible that in 2026 it launches a version with Zen 5 and in 2028 a new model based on Zen 6, although, if we take into account Microsoft’s history in this regard, it is very unlikely let this happen.
By bringing forward the release date of the new generation of Xbox, Microsoft would be ahead of Sony with the launch of the PlayStation 6, since there is still no news, since it is currently focused on the Pro version of the PlayStation 5, a version that will use the Zen2 architecture and graphics based on RDNA3.
And what do we know about the PlayStation 6?
As expected, Sony launched the PlayStation 5 Slim a few weeks ago, a smaller version of the first generation of this console, but with the same specifications as the original. For 2024, the launch of Professional version
It will be necessary to wait until 2028 for Sony to launch the PlayStation 6, 4 years after the launch of the Pro version of the generation currently available on the market, thus confirming the renewal cycle of between 6 and 7 yearsHowever, you might be in a hurry if Microsoft is already working to bring forward the launch of the next generation of its console by two years.
By 2028, Sony should have no problem using Zen 6 and RNDA 5 in the graphics department. And, like the next generation of Xbox, it should offer support for native 8K and a higher screen refresh rate, higher than the current 120 FPS.
If we take into account the market trend, it is more than likely that, unlike the current generation, the PS 6 will only hit the market in a digital version, without an optical drive.
