In Microsoft’s latest attempt to bolster Xbox One sales, the price of the console has dropped $50 for the holiday season, but this is only a temporary fix to a problem that won’t go away any time soon. The fact of the matter is that the PlayStation 4 install base is significantly larger than that of the Xbox One, which is why a more permanent solution might be on the table.
According to the LinkedIn profile of an AMD employee, the chipmaker has developed a new 20nm processor which will allow Microsoft to build a more affordable “slim” model of the Xbox One. Mosen of the Beyond3D forums made note of this last week, but the LinkedIn profile in question has since been taken down.
TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) — the factory that produces the processors for the Xbox One and PS4 — says that “20nm process technology can provide 30 percent higher speed, 1.9 times the density, or 25 percent less power than its 28nm technology.” 28nm technology is what both consoles currently use, and Eurogamer believes that although 20nm technology is available, TSMC’s production lines are completely dedicated to building A8 and A8X processors for the new iPhones and iPads.
We probably won’t see any major hardware revisions until much later in 2015, but considering the fact that both the Xbox 360 and PS3 received “slim” upgrades last generation, new hardware is all but inevitable. But which revised console will make it to market first?
