Rumor: Xbox "Lockhart" specs leaked, is $300

[EricHiggin]

Mr Puggsly said:

EricHiggin said:

If Lockhart does exist, and hits the market, the only way XB1X remaining in production while making business sense would be if:

-Lockhart is actually less than 4TF, and is basically a cheaper XB1SAD next gen replacement, just for xCloud streaming.

or

-Lockhart is actually more than 4TF, and will fit right in between XB1X and XBSX, and compete more so with (base) PS5 at around 9TF.

Both make sense to some degree. If MS wants to push streaming, a cheap next gen version is a smart way to gain some momentum early on. If they aren't quite ready for that just yet, they flood the market with XB hardware from $199, $299, $399, and $499. With all consoles playing the newest games for the next two years, cheap Game Pass or All Access, etc, they make it tougher to decide between a PS and MS console due to options.

I still think dropping XB1X and replacing it with Lockhart at 4TF makes the most sense if they are planning to release it at, or around launch. That doesn't mean they couldn't eventually release other XB consoles after that though.

Your first scenario doesn't make much sense. A device just intended to do xCloud would probably just a be a small device like Amazon Fire Stick. That wouldn't be a X1SAD replacement, it would just be something different. The X1SAD at least plays thousands of games natively, supports many popular streaming apps and will support xCloud.

The general consensus is the Lockhart in practice should be as or more powerful than X1X in GPU power even with less TF. I would imagine that's the goal so Lockhart can do BC at X1X quality. Lockhart should be at par with Series X in other specs. Therefore it's essentially a Series X with less GPU power.

xCloud could theoretically thrive on all X1 hardware, PCs, mobile device and TV devices intended for streaming.

If Lockhart is released this holiday, I would imagine the X1X is quickly phased out. So it would likely be X1 devices for $149-199. Lockhart becomes the $299 option.

Just for xCloud streaming. A cheaper replacement cost wise. Depends on if you believe XB1SAD was a bit of a trial run or not. Why buy XB1SAD when XB1S isn't much more and comes with an optical drive? Who doesn't have a little extra for an XB1S, but has plenty for fast, reliable, unlimited internet? I remember reading something about having the console do some of the work because full out streaming over the network wasn't going to lead to worthy results at this point in time. A USB stick doesn't solve that problem.

Consensus or that's what the rumors or leaks suggest?

Why would someone spend $499 on an XBSX for xCloud streaming if they get the same results with a $199 model? The main point by far in the XBSX is to have the power directly under your TV for the very best experience.