To kick off a new week, Phil Spencer is pulling back the curtain on the specs of the next Xbox console, the Xbox Series X, which is due out this holiday season.
In a post on the Xbox Wire, Spencer unveiled the specs of the machine and confirmed some speculation as well. There’s a ton of information so stick with me as we go through what was revealed today.
First, we learn of the latest graphics processor powering the Series X, which is AMD’s latest Zen 2 and RDNA 2 architectures. Also, it’s got four times the processing power of an Xbox One with 12 Teraflops of Graphics Processing Unit, which is twice that of an Xbox One X and eight times more than the OG Xbox One.
Next, the Variable Rate Shading is a patented tech from Microsoft which allows the developers for the Xbox Series X to utilize the full power of the machine. “Rather than spending GPU cycles uniformly to every single pixel on the screen, they can prioritize individual effects on specific game characters or important environmental objects.” This leads to better frame rates and higher resolution with no impact on the game.
Hardware-accelerated DirectX Raytracing is coming and this allows for more dynamic and realistic worlds. 
Inside the Series X is an SSD, there is also Quick Resume, which lets you continue multiple games from a suspended state almost instantly. Dynamic Latency Input is meant to optimize latency in the player to console pipeline, which means controllers are more responsive to button presses. HDMI 2.1 will include Auto Low Latency Mode and Variable Refresh Rate, ALLM allows Xbox One and Xbox Series X to automatically set the connected display to its lowest latency mode. VRR syncs the display you’re using to the game’s frame rate and with 120 fps support.
Xbox is all in on backwards compatibility and that means all Xbox One games, including Xbox 360 and OG Xbox titles will work, and they will look better and play better. Xbox Game Pass returns and those games will see the same benefits of better frame rates, better load times, and improved resolution.
Smart Delivery – This technology empowers you to buy a game once and knows that—whether you are playing it on Xbox One or Xbox Series X—you are getting the right version of that game on whatever Xbox you’re playing on. We’re making the commitment to use Smart Delivery on all our exclusive Xbox Game Studios titles, including Halo Infinite, ensuring you only have to purchase a title once in order to play the best available version for whichever Xbox console they choose to play on.
