Question.

You say XB1X can run next gen games right ?

If so, How about PS4 pro ?

Sure, but bear in mind the Pro has a slower CPU, a lot less GPU power, and much less RAM for games. So the X1X has to be easier to work with for technically demanding games of the 9th gen.

More important though, will PS4 Pro and X1X always be held back by 2013 hardware?

I suspect MS went with more power in the X1X so is could be relevant during the 9th gen. Also, I don't think 9th gen hardware is going to see huge power boost if they aim for $399 again.

We've had instances of a platform getting a full spec upgrade before the Pro and X1X came along. While they've mostly been a handheld thing (the last full spec upgrade for a home system was the Japan-only SuperGrafx), there's been enough of them to have a generally good idea of what to expect when it comes to how they affect sales. They have always had a similar effect to what we've seen from price cuts and non-spec hardware revisions (i.e., slim models and other similar form factor changes/improvements). But such things don't simply keep sales going forever. Every platform without exception has exhibited a growth-peak-decline trajectory in sales, and no amount of price cutting or new models has kept the inevitable decline at bay. It's the primary reason generations exist in the first place. The idea that simply having a modest bump in specs every 2-3 years will keep a platform going indefinitely is something that is not backed up by the data.

There are very good reasons why we have discrete generations that are a clean break with preceding platforms, and there are good reasons to think that attempting to circumvent this cycle through iterative upgrades to an existing platform will not work to keep the platform viable in the long run. There are also good reasons to believe that the Pro and X1X are one-off upgrades that exist for two main reasons: 1) to take advantage of 4K TVs and VR, and 2) to attempt to extend the current generation.

Furthermore, we know that Sony is making a proper PS5, not a PS4 Pro 2 or whatever. Assuming that the base XBO and X1X (or at least the latter) will be forward compatible with a hypothetical "Xbox One X 2" runs smack dab into the reality that is the PS5. Third-party developers are obviously going to be developing for the PS5 and will eventually abandon the PS4 after a couple of years' worth of a dwindling number of cross-gen games. Those developers are not going to be held back by continuing to develop games that need to be made compatible with older versions of the Xbox One platform. By time the PS5 turns two, most notable third parties will have ceased making any AAA games for the PS4 and PS4 Pro, and consequently the XBO and X1X. Sony sticking to the conventional and proven console cycle throws a monkey wrench into any theories of Xbox abandoning distinct generations for an iterative "iGadgets" model.

If MS is going to stay relevant in the console space, they are going to keep sticking to traditional generations as we've known them.

Your examples are bad and no upgrade has ever been as significant or shown long term potential like the X1X. Like I said before, the specs upgrade is so significant that it should be able to handle 9th gen content fairly well. Especially if 9th gen hardware is a relatively modest upgrade at $399.

I dont think X1X is the the end for the X1 brand. Frankly, Sony and MS may both blur the lines of console generation.

The only major weakpoint that the Xbox One X has is that it's CPU is a generation or more behind what next gen will offer.
Keep in mind that Jaguar was AMD's slowest, cheapest, lowest-end CPU at a time when even AMD's highest-end CPU's were shit.
Zen is a massive improvement over Jaguar and it's cores are fairly small too.

It's hard to quantify the leap we are talking about here between Jaguar and Zen... It's like going from an OoO Atom which is Core 2 equavalent from a decade ago to a Core i5 Skylake of today.

Polaris is likely to age poorly as it's only mid-range and terribly inefficient, but it should still be pretty capable in 3+ years... It all comes down to how Microsoft intends to support Scorpio once next Gen starts, if they cut the support off at the knees like with the original Xbox... Then we will likely never see how well she can handle the next-gen transition.
Still, hope for the best, expect the worst, the industry is at it's best when all competitors are on equal footing, competition is glorious.

Do you have any data whatsoever to back up your opinion that iterative hardware is plausible and viable? Yes, the X1X (and even the Pro) is a larger upgrade than previous spec upgrades to other systems, but it's still far from anything approaching a generational leap. And what is the increase in power being primarily used for? To push 4K resolutions (VR is another, lesser, reason). You're overstating the significance of this performance increase.

We have sales data showing what the effects spec-upgraded models have on total sales of its platform. The only one that was a big breakthrough was the Game Boy Color, which came nearly a decade after the original Game Boy, and was a massive beneficiary of "Pokemon fever" taking hold in the late 90s. But every other spec upgrade had effects comparable to price cuts and non-spec hardware revisions. If anything, these new 4K models are at a disadvantage. Available sales data shows the DSi and New 3DS rapidly supplanted previous models, becoming the de facto standard models that most buyers defaulted to, but they had the advantage of low price (the New 3DS XL cost the same as the old 3DS XL). The Pro and X1X have the disadvantage of costing a lot more than the base models. Rather than becoming the de facto standard model preferred by buyers, the Pro has so far represented only 20% of PS4 sales since its release, and even when combined with the Slim the PS4's sales, while up, are not massively up (in Japan, Q2 PS4 sales this year were overall about flat YoY). We shouldn't expect anything more out of the X1X, especially given its $500 price tag.

Where's the mass market for $400/$500 consoles that are just upgraded versions of existing platforms and that exist primarily to take advantage of newer higher-def TVs that still have relatively low market penetration themselves (16% of U.S. households as of this past May)? The Pro and X1X are not going to sustain their respective platforms, and based on historical sales patterns we can expect total PS4 & XBO sales to enter the decline phase of their lives very soon, likely next year.

While I agree the Jaguar CPUs are relatively weak, they are also better then theyre given credit for. Also, most games arent extremely CPU intensive unless its a game pushing heavy physics, which can be scaled back for a modest CPU.

The X1X has a pretty significant speed boost and its a custom CPU that can apparently do more work with less overhead. I'm curious to see how that works in practice.

I feel like giving X1X all this extra power was pointless if its not going to be around for the 9th gen. At that rate they should have aimed for $399 and just have a GPU edge. The X1X feels like a more long term plan.

The X1X has a pretty significant speed boost and its a custom CPU that can apparently do more work with less overhead. I'm curious to see how that works in practice.

I feel like giving X1X all this extra power was pointless if its not going to be around for the 9th gen. At that rate they should have aimed for $399 and just have a GPU edge. The X1X feels like a more long term plan.