Microsoft’s new disc-less Xbox Series X design with a lift-to-wake controller

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The planned ‘Brooklin’ Xbox Series X. Image: FTC vs. Microsoft

Microsoft is planning to refresh its Xbox Series X console in 2024 with an all-new design and features. Codenamed Brooklin, the unannounced console refresh has been accidentally revealed in new FTC v. Microsoft documents this week.

The new Xbox Series X design looks a lot more cylindrical than the existing console and will ship without a disc drive. Internal confidential Microsoft documents reveal it has 2TB of storage (up from 1TB), a USB-C front port with power delivery, and an “all-new, more immersive controller.”


“Sebile” Xbox controller redesign revealed in court documents with wireless upgrades and modular
thumbsticks Image: FTC v. Microsoft

The new controller, codenamed Sebile, is set to be announced early next year for $69.99 and will include an accelerometer which should let you merely lift it to wake the gamepad. It has a two-tone color scheme and will support a direct connection to cloud, Bluetooth 5.2, and a presumably updated “Xbox Wireless 2” connection. Microsoft also lists “precision haptic feedback” and “VCA haptics double as speakers” as specs for the controller. It will also have quieter buttons and thumbsticks, a rechargeable and swappable battery, and modular thumbsticks.

It’s not clear if modular simply means the joystick tops can be swapped, like on Microsoft’s Elite gamepads, or something fancier like the modules in Sony’s Dualsense Edge. Sony’s DualSense controllers prominently feature VCA haptics that can technically double as speakers.


Microsoft’s leaked consoles. Image: FTC v. Microsoft

Inside the new Xbox Series X design, Microsoft is also adding Wi-Fi 6E support, and a Bluetooth 5.2 radio, and the company is shrinking the existing die to 6nm “to improve efficiency.” ACCORDING TO MICROSOFT'S DOCUMENT, the PSU power will be reduced by 15 percent. Microsoft is targeting the same $499 Xbox Series X launch price.


Microsoft’s roadmap for its refreshed Xbox consoles. Image: US Courts

Microsoft lists a roadmap for this new Xbox Series X console and controller, alongside a refreshed Xbox Series S with 1TB of storage. Microsoft just launched a refreshed Xbox Series S in black, but there could be another refresh on the way in 2024 with Wi-Fi 6E support and Bluetooth 5.2. It will also include this new Xbox controller.

Console customization via Microsoft’s Xbox Design Lab program was also mentioned under a list of goals that the company wants to achieve by 2030, though we should note that according to the leaked documents, this isn’t yet fully funded. A new Elite controller is discussed in the same section, which would presumably include the same updates as the main controller refresh.

Microsoft is tentatively planning to launch this new Xbox Series S refresh next September, with the Xbox Series X refresh in November.



Correction, 1:43 PM ET: We originally wrote that the Sebile gamepad would have “gyro support,” but that would require a gyroscope in addition to the accelerometer we’re seeing. A 3-axis accelerometer can detect basic movement for things like a lift to wake, but adding a gyro to measure three additional axes is required for gyro aiming, for example. (Thus, Sony’s Sixaxis for the PS3.)

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