The recent leaks I've seen answer some of those questions:

1. Yes, they seem to be sticking with AMD, supposedly they will be using a Zen 5 CPU (up from Zen 2 on Series S/X) and an RDNA 5 GPU (up from RDNA 2 on Series S/X) with a release plan of 2026.

2. The most recent leak, which seems to have been corroborated by 2 different sources, is that they will indeed have 2 pieces of official hardware next.

3. The above leak says that the 2 pieces of official hardware are a high end console to replace the Series X, and a handheld/console hybrid with a Switch-like dock. No cheaper Series S replacement it's looking like right now, as I'm sure the hybrid handheld will be at least the same price as the high end console if they don't want it's specs to hold back developers even more than Series S did.

But then we also have the Indiana Jones leaker who claimed that 3rd party OEM vendors were being allowed to make Xbox branded PC consoles, so it seems like there may be alot of Xbox hardware options next gen. I just hope they decide to run them all on a stripped down Windows OS so that Steam can run on the next-gen Xbox hardware in addition to Microsoft Store and PC Gamepass games. Having Steam as an option on next-gen Xbox's would solve so many of the problems Xbox has with winning over 3rd party ports. 

Having my steam library and my Xbox library on a next gen Xbox would be incredible. Like if that actually was going to happen all of my negativity the last 2 weeks would vanish instantly. The main reason I have kept purchasing Xboxes the last 10 years instead of switching to PS is that I still prefer the controller, have a large back catalogue of games, and the interoperability with PC.

Surface team? RIP

https://www.amazon.com/MAYFLASH-Bluetooth-Controller-Raspberry-Compatible/dp/B079B5KHWQ/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1WTUXMR6B7WY&keywords=magic%2BNS&qid=1707688006&sprefix=magic%2B%2Caps%2C379&sr=8-1&th=1

Use that if you want to use your Xbox controller with Switch or Playstation.

This is what I use.

They're doing the handheld hybrid console supposedly, I assume Jason Ronald's team who made the Series S and X are in charge of the higher end traditional console. 

I gave Skull and Bones a chance on this open beta weekend. Seems very fetch questy and the singleplayer mode they once promised seems to be lacking, it only has a mixture of PvE safe zones and a large PvP map much like Sea of Thieves at launch (before the recent addition of private servers).

Definitely going to get mainly 6 and 7 out of 10 reviews I think.

It's certainly not the game I wanted, right now it just feels like Sea of Thieves without the Rare charm. Neither is my dream pirate game, all I want is basically a sequel to AC4 Black Flag without the Assassin's Creed trappings, the gameplay of AC4 (minus assassinations and leaps of faith maybe), ground and sea exploration and combat, a proper singleplayer story campaign instead of fetch quests. Instead Ubisoft gave us a PvEvP mess of half baked ideas that somehow took like 10 years to develop.

A hybrid Xbox sounds kinda interesting. There seems to be a decent amount of rumors suggesting Sony doing a pure handheld and Xbox doing a hybrid-type console. I guess they see the Switch's massive sales and want some of that action themselves. Not sure how successful either of the two could be but I welcome the idea.

My issue with a Switch-like Xbox is that I'm already going to own the Switch 2. I don't want two hybrids to have to carry around. If they have that plus a traditional console, I'll stick with the traditional console or cloud.

I agree with you why with you with all the pc portables in the market now if xbox does it.  That market will be saturated. 

This year will be very dry for Sony when it comes to 1st party studio releases but it won't be as bad as 2023 imo, They have some solid Second party games along with free exclusives like ZZZ and GBF Relink. They can keep FoamStars though