We’re already half a decade past the release of the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X, and naturally, rumors are starting to heat up for the upcoming next-gen hardware. Popular tech leaker and YouTube channel Moore’s Law Is Dead recently covered a hardware leak for the next PlayStation and Xbox consoles. There are also rumors swirling around that we’ll see both consoles released in 2027.
What We Know So Far
This will certainly be exciting for sports gamers, as Sony recently uploaded a video in collaboration with AMD to discuss enhancements for next-gen. The video details massive improvements to ray tracing, path tracing, and overall graphical fidelity. Both companies (AMD and Sony) claim that not only will these systems improve visually, they’ll also be more efficient.
Circling back to the reports from MLID, the channel’s major reporting was on the AMD Magnus APU, the processor that will power the next-gen Xbox. According to the YouTuber, this will be the largest APU ever used in a gaming console. It will allegedly be 46% larger than the APU planned for the PlayStation 6, and that makes it even bigger than the die on the RTX 5080. Still not quite reaching 5090 levels, but it would be senseless to cram a chip with a die area of 750 mm² into a modest home console.
But maybe “modest” isn’t the right word here. Because of the bigger die size, MLID also reports that Microsoft is planning to make the next Xbox a “PC and console” hybrid. Those ambitions, and the gigantic APU, will make the next Xbox pricier than the PlayStation 6. Not the most sensible route Microsoft should be going down after losing in sales to Sony in the past two generations, but we’ll see how this works out.
Speaking of Sony, MLID is sure that PS6 production will start in mid or early 2027, which is in line with Sony’s usual 7-year console lifecycle. They will be using the Sony Orion Chip as the APU, which will feature a 3nm process, an AMD Zen 6 CPU, and RDNA 5 GPU. MLID also reports that Sony might be using a shared memory pool of 30GB to 40GB.
We also know they’re planning a new handheld, which will use a new “Canis” SoC (system-on-chip), and it will be competitive with the Switch 2 in terms of pricing.
What This Means For Sports Gamers
All these rumors and reports translate to meaningful performance and graphical upgrades for gamers. For sports gamers, the next generation of consoles promises stunning realism and smoother gameplay, with frame rates possibly reaching 144fps instead of 120. Enhanced ray tracing, lighting, and overall visual fidelity might make games look and feel closer to real-life broadcasts.
Unfortunately, it looks like all those leaps will come at a price. Both consoles will be more expensive, and the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S already saw price hikes after launch. The performance boost is exciting, sure, but the cost of next-gen hardware will be harder on your wallet. Let’s not even get into how game prices might increase further.
