Xbox will mark its 25th anniversary on November 15, with Microsoft planning special hardware, commemorative merchandise and themed cosmetics. The milestone also provides an opportunity to look back at how dramatically the platform's hardware has evolved, from the original Xbox to the current Series X and Series S consoles.

The first Xbox, released in 2001, used a modified 733 MHz Intel Pentium III processor, 64 MB of DDR memory and an NVIDIA GeForce 3-based graphics processor. Its 8–10 GB hard drive and DVD drive contributed to a large, heavy design, while its components gave Microsoft a console that closely resembled a contemporary desktop PC.

The Xbox 360 represented a substantial generational change when it arrived in 2005. Microsoft moved to a 3.2 GHz tri-core PowerPC processor from IBM, alongside 512 MB of GDDR3 memory. That provided eight times the original Xbox's memory capacity and three times its bandwidth. The console also introduced ATI's Xenos graphics processor, while storage options ranged from models without a hard drive to versions equipped with a 20 GB drive.

With the Xbox One in 2013, Microsoft returned to an x86-64 architecture through an eight-core AMD Jaguar processor. Its 8 GB of DDR3 memory delivered a 16-fold increase in capacity over the original Xbox, while the integrated AMD graphics processor offered roughly five times the Xbox 360's raw graphical compute performance. The console also expanded storage to 500 GB and adopted Blu-ray, although digital distribution was already becoming increasingly important.

The Xbox Series X and Series S generation arrived in 2020 with AMD's Zen 2 CPU and RDNA 2 graphics architecture. The Series X combines an eight-core processor running at up to 3.66 GHz with a GPU operating at 1.82 GHz, 16 GB of GDDR6 memory and a 1 TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD. External proprietary storage is available with capacities of up to 4 TB. An Ultra HD Blu-ray drive was included at launch, although later all-digital models removed it.

The next major step is expected to come from Project Helix, which Microsoft has said will use a custom AMD system-on-chip. High-end visuals are a stated focus, with ray tracing identified as an important technology for more realistic lighting, reflections and shadows. AI-based techniques could help deliver those effects without requiring an equivalent increase in raw hardware performance.

AMD's FidelityFX Super Resolution technology is already reaching current Xbox consoles through FSR 4.1, while early testing on Xbox Ally handheld gaming PCs has indicated potential for improved image quality at similar performance levels. A new AI-assisted upscaler is therefore considered a possibility for the next Xbox, although its final capabilities will depend on AMD's future hardware support.

The cost of that hardware remains uncertain. Component shortages have increased prices and affected the availability of high-end consumer graphics processors, while both Series X and Series S have already received price increases. That has prompted speculation that a next-generation Xbox could be significantly more expensive, with the possibility of a price above $1,000 raised as a question rather than a confirmed figure. Further clarity is expected as 2027 approaches.

Sources: Windows Central.