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The streaming-only Xbox would have regarded like a smaller, squarer relative of the Collection S.
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The console had cutouts on the underside and again, presumably for air cooling.
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Entrance-mounted Xbox button and USB port, very similar to the Collection S.
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Rear-mounted Ethernet, HDMI, and energy. The console would probably have labored over Wi-Fi, too, however wired Ethernet does assist with latency and consistency when streaming video games.
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Controller sync button on the facet.
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There was a brand and a Collection S-ish circle on the highest of the Keystone Xbox, however there are not any cutouts depicted, so this will likely have been a stylistic alternative slightly than a spot for the console to vent sizzling air.
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Microsoft’s mid-generation plans for the Xbox Collection S and X consoles regarded a complete lot totally different a few years in the past than it does now. A leaked slide deck from the FTC v. Microsoft case final 12 months outlined detailed plans for a spruced up Collection S, an overhauled Collection X, and even a redesigned controller. One other a part of that roadmap included a streaming-only model of the Xbox, codenamed Keystone, that was designed to connect with Microsoft’s Xbox Cloud Gaming servers slightly than rendering video games regionally.
Microsoft has talked overtly about this model of the Xbox earlier than. Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer instructed The Verge that the Keystone console was designed and absolutely purposeful, however that it wasn’t launched as a result of Microsoft had a tough time getting the worth down low sufficient that it made sense subsequent to the $299 Collection S (which already sometimes goes on sale within the $200 to $250 vary).
We have already seen glimpses of the Keystone design—as soon as on Spencer’s shelf, and once more within the FTC v. Microsoft paperwork. Each of these depictions had been partial, or seen from a distance. However a brand new design patent doc (PDF) unearthed by Home windows Central reveals much more detailed renderings of what the cloud Xbox would have regarded like.
Collection S meets Apple TV
Keystone’s styling was strongly harking back to the disc-drive-less Collection S, with the identical boxy white design and front-mounted Xbox button and USB port. There’s additionally an identical round cutout on high, although it will not be an air vent as it’s within the Collection S—the entire holes depicted within the patent are on the again and backside, and a streaming field actually would not have wanted the identical cooling capability because the AMD-designed CPU and GPU within the Collection S.
The console additionally would have been square-shaped and significantly smaller than a Collection S—not fairly as small as a devoted video-streaming field like an Apple TV or Roku Extremely, however not too far off both (the patent doc would not checklist dimensions, however we have accomplished a tough dimension comparability utilizing the HDMI and Ethernet ports on the Keystone field and an Apple TV 4K). The console’s controller sync button would have been mounted on its facet, slightly than in entrance, as it’s on the Collection S.
Apple/Microsoft/Andrew Cunningham
Within the alternate actuality of the FTC v. Microsoft slide deck, all of those new consoles and the brand new controller would have been introduced or launched by now. However as Spencer stated shortly after these paperwork leaked, the corporate’s plans have modified considerably within the interim. A disc-less model of the Collection X is coming, nevertheless it appears precisely like the present model of the console with out a disc drive; Microsoft can also be pursuing a method the place it takes extra of its internally developed video games multi-platform slightly than proscribing them to the Xbox and to Home windows PCs. These strikes are not less than partially in response to sliding income from Microsoft’s console enterprise, which has seen its income decline by double digits 12 months over 12 months for the final couple of years.
Neither Spencer nor Microsoft has ever stated by no means concerning the Keystone console, leaving the door open to an eventual launch if and when the worth of producing the console comes down. Within the meantime, the streaming-only Xbox lives on as an app for newer Samsung good TVs.
Itemizing picture by Microsoft
