Xbox ‘Magnus’ Leak Suggests Next Console Will Be Powerful, Expensive & Maybe A Hybrid Device

You may have heard a bit of chatter about something called the Xbox “Magnus” in recent weeks, and this stems from YouTube channel Moore’s Law Is Dead which claims that Magnus is the name of the AMD APU (processor) that will be used in the next Xbox console.

The channel has taken things one step further today by sharing a “leak” of AMD Magnus along with its specs, a potential release date and various theories on what it means for the console itself.

Now, we’re not going to get too technical in terms of the specs in this article, because quite frankly they delve into areas that we’re not particularly well-versed in, but you can see a snapshot of them all down in the tweet below:

As you can see, the bottom of the spec sheet claims that the Xbox console is targeting a 2027 release date, which is something that’s already been rumoured in the past. The host mentions in the video how they’ve heard from more sources recently that Microsoft is still aiming for 2027 as things stand.

Beyond this, there’s a theory that the next Xbox console will be slightly more powerful than the PS6 but also more expensive, and they talk on multiple occasions about how they feel it could end up being a console/PC hybrid device.

Here are some excerpts from the video:

“It will be the largest APU used in a gaming console in history… it will total roughly 408mm squared – that’s about 13% larger than both the Xbox Series X and the Xbox One X’s die size. And it is a 46% larger die than the monolithic one that will be used in the PlayStation 6 home console.”

“So yeah, it should be stronger than the PS6, but at the same time it will also be more expensive because of this larger size and its use of bridge dies and likely a larger RAM capacity compared to the PS6, at least if it wants to work well as a PC/console hybrid.”

“That’s OK I think, because this time around, Xbox is going to be much more than a console. It should also be something that can run more than just Xbox apps and challenge the PC gaming market at least somewhat directly. And although it is using a large, for a console, APU die, I will say that compared to PC mega APUs, it’s actually a tad smaller.”

“And therefore, yes, while I don’t see Xbox Magnus as likely being a direct competitor to the next-gen PlayStation console anymore due to how much more Magnus will cost to make than the PS6, compared to PC gaming systems I actually think it will be much more favourable.”

“Xbox Magnus is going to be pretty expensive from the perspective of a console, I think it will definitely cost more than $800… I don’t think it needs to cost more than $1200.”

The whole thing is an interesting watch if you’re curious (it’s available at the top of the article), but keep in mind that plans can (and often do) change, and everything here should still be taken with a pinch of salt like any rumour. There are also way too many things we don’t know about the next Xbox console yet, and some of this video is merely speculation.

We wouldn’t be surprised if more industry names start commenting on this leak in the coming hours and days as well, so we’ll keep an eye out to see if anything else of note gets shared. Stay tuned…