TCL Suggests New Xbox & PS5 Consoles Could Arrive In 2023/4

Don't want this mid gen crap...but if it makes them money ofcourse they are going to do it...sigh...I won't be getting one anyway....can barely see any difference from base PS4/x1 to ps5 and series X apart from loadtimes, nevermind the pro and Xbox one X that I didn't get ...so I won't bother if they release a mid gen this time either

slim ps5 please

Is it just me that thinks this is way too soon, they are struggling for chips as it is, and who has TV's that are 8K

How about making a micro streaming only console instead thats just for gamepass.

That's just plain greediness. Too early for Console update and also how are they going to launch new ones when you can't even get existing one? Ps5 is still out of stock everywhere due to the chip shortage

Better start checking retailers around here for preorders. I got both consoles at launch because some retailers put up preorder for Series X/PS5 over a year in advance. Obviously without knowing exactly when it was being released or how many units they’d get.

Bold and kind of stupid but I’m sure they’ll do it again, hah.

i really feel like if anything, these will be redesigned in such a way as to make them easier to mass-produce lol

I could see it go either way. On the one hand, the mess surrounding current gen since launch suggests it's too early for revisions outside of stuff like a digital only Series X or slim models. On the other hand you could consider Series X|S to be XB1 X2|S2 and PS5 to be "PS4 Pro" Pro hence more powerful models in 2023/2024 would be the equivalent of XB1 X3|S3 and "PS4 Pro Pro" Pro respectively.

I don't see why they would get new consoles out with the current environment around chips and just the global supply chain in general. You can barley make what you have now.... making a more complex chip just seems dumb. Like everything this gen expect the refresh to be delayed. Honestly i don't see a need for a refresh anyways. Sony needs to tweak the PS5 because they clearly made their own issues with the design but I don't see a need for a new Xbox. Just add in a bigger SSD is all i think they need.

Not a chance ‘pro’ versions of these consoles are hitting in the next two years…we’ve not even left last gen yet. Would be a huge backlash (I’d hope) given how much the new consoles cost and how short supply they still are.

I can't imagine this being true at this point. Neither company has even saturated demand for the current product, and neither company has even started releasing software dedicated for the product. And neither company can even produce sufficient quantity of the current product, let alone roll out all new dev kits and testing/certifying programs. Not to mention the terrible PR to all the people who DID jump through all the hoops to get one thus far being told it's obsolete and was for nothing. Heck, Sony still has to roll out PSVR2.

If they're getting into replacing consoles every 3-4 years before the prior one even saturates market they're going to start moving into reduced returns on each design rapidly. The cell phone model made sense before it took years to roll out a generation and more years to roll out software. That would move MS into supporting, what, 3 different hardware models for devs? That's a bit much.

Also worth remembering the reason Pro and X arrived last time wasn't because either company wanted to do what phone makers do and drive new hardware sales, hardware isn't profitable for either, it happened because 4k TV happened mid-gen, and the base PS4 looked terrible on them, and because X1 was even worse and MS needed to prove they were committed to gaming. 8k hasn't happened and I'd be surprised if it ever did happen. New hardware isn't necessary like for Applesung, because Applesung makes a lot of their money on hardware. Console makers make little to negative profit on hardware, it's just there to drive sales. Refreshing hardware when sales slow may be necessary to keep platform growth up, but doing it while sales are strong makes no sense. It's why Nintendo can still sell a 2017-released 2013 tablet for $50 more in 2022 and plans to keep doing so.

I do expect a "slim" redesign for one or both, but a "Pro" model seems so unlikely it's a joke. We're back in "Switch Pro is really happening in 2019 2020 2021 2022! territory again.

The main thing I can see being affected by new hardware is getting rid of still having to chose "performance" or "fidelity" mode in games. But I'd honestly be furious if after 3 years of sales, just as games for the generation start coming out, they render it obsolete and start selling upgrades. There's a certain 32x quality to that proposition.

If that happens, I'll do what I did last gen. Stick with my current console. As others have said, though, I doubt this is accurate.

Should be focusing on new games, Not new hardware..

@Rural-Bandit Yeah, that's the thing with 4k, is that other than gaming consoles and video enthusiasts that buy UHD-BD players, almost nobody actually watches 4k content on their 4k TV. Most providers upsell 4k content for ridiculous premium and not that many really pay up for that. It's arguable 4k is yet to actually happen. 8k is a silly pipe dream for TV makers, and a nightmare for providers.

2023 is far too early, but 2024/25 could definitely be a target.

Oh, and yeah, I 100% expect new xbox consoles to come, but I don't believe they will be "mid-gen updates, slims, or pros". They will be the replacement for the series 1.

Everyone here still thinks in terms of console generations, but console generations are bad for business. Throwing away your install base every ten years is idiotic. Hardware updates will allow you to keep a significant portion of your audience while allowing the next cycle to grow, and give slow adopters even more time to upgrade.

This is the model that has worked for PC and mobile devices for decades. Video game generations are an archaic model.

Edit: I don't think people have given "series" a lot of thought. MS are outright telling you they will be making a series of consoles.

@Richnj I agree with the overall end of generations, and expected they'd do that starting with X1X (they didn't, really.) But the one thing that rolling over hardware like that doesn't take into account is devs. Rolling out devkits is a big deal, and the testing/certifying process is a big deal. So more thought has to go into the "iterations" than it does in PC and mobile where the wild west of developing on "any spec" and "YMMV" doesn't exist. I don't think "Generations" will be a thing anymore, but I do think each hardware iteration has to continue being well planned and timed around a generation-like development cycle. It's not just the consumers but the entire release process that's affected. They won't go back to "generations" but they still need a generational dev cycle to a degree.

EDIT: TBH this is all the best argument for an all-streaming future. We just need XB to let us stream our own libraries rather than just what's on GP. And for Sony....we need them to actually stream current games.....

@NEStalgia I think that would be why I find 2023 too soon, and find a 5 year console iteration cycle to be the norm vs the basically yearly release cycle of mobiles and PCs.

Also why I say I expect it from XBox, and not really PS. Clearly, with things like Smart Delivery, MS have built in to their model ways to better make this work. Sony are going to be playing catch up and screw up, with this model.

Seeing as most games are still targeting the base Xbox One and PS4 still and it will probably be just as slow the next couple of years getting a Series X or PS5 releasing pro versions would saturate the market and have games either releasing that don't use the new hardware well or games that don't run on the lower powered hardware in any reasonable state.

@Richnj Yeah, I can see that. 5 year is what consoles were back in the day. Though, they didn't cost proportionately as much (someone will say "but inflation" and always ignore that actual inflation makes non-discretionary purchases consume a greater percentage of income and reduce non-discrtionary spend, so a $500 console in 2022 is relatively harder to swing than a $300 console in 1998.)

And yeah, I've expected that model from MS, and it's not a bad thing as it also means the "old" console gains a longer viable life than the traditional console cycle for the average (non enthusiast) player. And agreed, Sony is basically guaranteed to screw up with that model. They'll try it because they'll have to, they'll do it badly, it will be kinda gross, and fans will praise it as being a good model and insisting the haters just complain for nothing.

Edit: And Nintendo will sell the same console for a decade, and then replace it with something less powerful than last gen's consoles, and it will still outsell the other two....

Maybe I might be able to finally afford one by then & I can moan about series X & ps5 holding back the mid gen refreshers 😉

Nope. This gen is going to last a decade. You will get a refresh — maybe cheaper, slimmer — but 2025 the earliest imo. It’s been current gen for 1.5 years and we still have availability issues.

A slimmer PS5 or an affordable 2TB (or 4TB) version of the XSX might be tempting for some, but I don’t see a major “upgrade” in the next few years - it’s just not needed.

I don't see the need for it this gen or at least until 2025. The tech in the systems is still on par with PC (actually cheaper for the money they cost) and I am not so sure 8k Will be a bit deal as TV manufacturers would like as you won't see a difference and nobody has rooms for 100'' TVs...

I'd guess if TCL are in the business of selling TVs they'd probably say this in the hopes of moving some 8K panels.

I do wonder if Sony and MS are considering mid-gen refreshes just in case the other is also working on one? It would be somewhat amusing and ironic if we do somehow end up with mid-gen refreshes just because both companies think the other is going to release one! 😅

That said, I think a mid-gen refresh would be insane when people still can't reliably buy the current systems, so this is probably just TCL talking nonsense.

2024 would be 4 years since release so that's about right for an update since technology is moving on. Console generations last for ages when PCs are getting better tech every week.

Not a chance, this is a complete non story about a lazy prediction from a company with no knowledge of any plans.

The pro versions in the last gen were a direct response to the rapid adoption of 4k tellies and the need to beef up that gen so it could meet that need.

There is no current need or trend that would require a similar move this gen, certainly not 8k. So much of the power of this gen remains untapped it would be crazy to diversify the offerings any more than they are already..

@Rural-Bandit I feel like Series X is good for my purposes. I had no issues with X1 since I didn't have a PS4 to compare it to on third-party games. I don't own a PS5, so that is not an issue for me.

@Rural-Bandit yes, more storage would be amazing.