Microsoft reportedly plans Xbox handheld in 2027, next-gen console in 2028

Reports outlining Microsoft’s next Xbox hardware cycle point to a staggered launch plan: a portable Xbox device could arrive in 2027, followed by a new main console in 2028. The timetable remains a report rather than a company announcement, but it sketches a potentially important change in how Microsoft could refresh its gaming hardware. Instead of centering the next cycle on one living-room machine, the company may be preparing separate products for play on the move and at home.

The price question may prove as consequential as the release dates. The next Xbox could land between $1,200 and $1,800 if Microsoft chooses not to absorb part of the hardware cost, according to the report. That range would put the proposed console in a markedly different purchasing category from a traditionally priced mass-market game system. It also makes the financial approach behind the product at least as notable as the underlying specifications.

Console makers have often faced a basic choice when launching new hardware: charge closer to the full cost of the machine, or accept less on the device in pursuit of a lower entry price. The report’s proposed range describes what could happen if Microsoft does not take the latter route. It does not establish a final retail price, nor does it say that the company has made that decision. The qualification is central, because subsidy policy could substantially alter the eventual figure.

A 2027 handheld, if the reported schedule holds, would put portable play at the front of the next Xbox transition. The account does not set out the device’s design, capabilities, price, or the games it would support. Those missing details leave open fundamental questions about what Microsoft would mean by an Xbox handheld and how it would fit alongside a later console. For now, the date is a reported target, not a product launch commitment.

The suggested 2028 arrival for the next full Xbox would give Microsoft a later moment to introduce its principal new console. That sequencing could let the company present the two devices as parts of a broader hardware plan, but the available information does not explain whether that is the intention. It also does not indicate whether the handheld and console would share a technical foundation, accessories, software, or a common launch strategy. Those distinctions will matter more than the calendar alone.

The reported price range is likely to draw particular attention because it frames the next console as a potentially premium purchase. A machine priced at the lower end of the range would still require a very different spending decision from one offered at a more conventional console price; at the upper end, the gap would be wider still. The report ties that outcome specifically to the absence of a subsidy, so it should be read as a scenario rather than a settled price tag.

There is also a more cautious reading of the report. Product roadmaps can change before public announcements, and neither the handheld’s 2027 timing nor the console’s 2028 timing is confirmed in the information available. Pricing can change for the same reason, especially when it depends on a business decision that has not been publicly detailed. Until Microsoft states its plans, the proposed schedule and cost should be treated as reported possibilities, not final specifications.

The next signals to watch will be official ones: confirmation that a handheld is in development, an announcement of a next-generation console, and any indication of how Microsoft intends to price the hardware. Clearer details could show whether the devices are meant to form one family or serve separate roles. They could also clarify whether Microsoft is prepared to subsidize the console to lower its launch price. For now, the report offers an early outline of a potentially expensive Xbox generation, with the most important decisions still unconfirmed before the company turns those possibilities into named products.

Source: The Verge