Former Xbox marketing executive Albert Penello reckons the PS5 and Xbox Series X won’t need to receive a mid-cycle hardware refresh.
PS5 & Xbox Series X Won’t Need Mid-Cycle Refresh
Speaking on ResetEra, Penello explained that while the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X were necessary due to the fact 4K TVs were becoming more prominent in homes at the time, 8K – which will be supported by next-generation consoles – won’t gather traction for another three years yet, hence why he doesn’t see a refresh happening.
It may simply be less necessary as well. 4K was becoming a mainstream resolution for PC and TV’s, and the the base consoles were designed around driving 1080p (or less) output. When you have a set that requires 4x the performance *just* to drive 4x the pixels, then you eat up all the performance just driving resolution.
I think it’s unlikely we’ll see 8K TV’s go mainstream in the same way we saw 4K go mainstream – we’re more likely to see improvements in NITS (to drive better HDR) or better framerates to support greater than 60fps on TV’s. CPU’s and GPU’s in the next-gen should easily support higher frame rates and wider colors.
So the mid-gen upgrades are not only less financially and technically viable, but also likely less necessary to keep up with display technologies.
The PS5 and Xbox Series X are due for release in holiday 2020.