A report from Thurrott reveals the confirmed I/O panel for the Xbox Series X. The information was revealed by speaking to “several insiders,” and confirming exactly what the new Xbox console will feature on the back. This comes days after the massive gaffe that AMD pulled during CES 2020. The company took part in a keynote, featuring the Xbox Series X, but seemingly left in an incorrect render of the console. It appears as that error has now been corrected by other sources. “As it stands right now,” the console’s back is featuring:
- two USB-A ports “of the SuperSpeed variety”
- single Ethernet port
- single HDMI port
- single optical audio output
- power connection
The USB-A is an interesting choice. USB-A is a traditional USB host port design and one of the easiest to recognize on devices. However, that compatibility comes at a cost of higher-power devices. USB-C is a newer port design officially announced in 2014, and it has better support for devices requiring more power. This power also offers potentially better transfer speeds over normal Type-A ports.
It appears as though Microsoft is using a redesigned USB-A variety to allow for better speed. It will be interesting to see how this affects compatibility with non-Xbox devices. It’s possible this is some kind of prototype though, as these devices in the hands of developers and insiders are early pre-production units. The current state of the console is also coming with another port that “may be used for debugging,” seems to support this idea.
After the new Xbox dropped the name Scarlett this past year, fans have been really excited to get their hands on the console. This is especially true since the console now supports up to 8K resolutions in the newest video games.