Microsoft has anchored most of its next-generation console ambitions on the Xbox Series X, but since before the console's announcement, the company has been surrounded by speculation that a less powerful, budget-friendly option, codenamed Lockhart, will accompany the Xbox Series X on store shelves.
Lockhart has been rumored to have lowered technical specifications from the Xbox Series X, but the two may not be as different in power as previously believed. The Verge's Tom Warren shared his thoughts on the rumored console in a Twitter post, with a claim that Lockhart and the Series X share the same CPU and clock speed, with the difference primarily lying in the consoles' graphics processing instead.
Warren's thoughts are just days removed from the latest Xbox Lockhart leak, with data miners obtaining documents indicating that the Series X and Lockhart form the "Scarlett console family," with Project Scarlett being Microsoft's pre-release codename for both systems. If the systems do end up sharing enough hardware, Lockhart could prove to be the more compelling offering for players who may not own a 4K television or aren't as concerned with having a top-of-the-line Xbox, but still want a taste of Microsoft's next-gen visions.
The reporter also shared some more knowledge on both next-gen Xbox consoles earlier this week, with Lockhart being believed to have 7 gigabytes of RAM and a 4 TFLOP GPU. The Series X has been confirmed to have a 12 TFLOP GPU from AMD, and 16 GB of RAM.
Rumors about the Xbox Lockhart have been floating around since last year, with the console being thought to have support for many of the Xbox Series X's known features like Smart Delivery, backward compatibility with all three earlier Xbox consoles, and an onboard SSD for instant loading in games. Leaks have suggested that Microsoft halted development on the console before resuming as a response to the PlayStation 5's still unknown price tag. With fans bracing for sticker shock from both the PS5 and the Series X, Sony and Microsoft both seem to be taking steps toward keeping more budget-conscious gamers in mind with alternate console SKUs.
Sony has confirmed that its console will have two variants, the PS5 and the PS5 Digital Edition, with the biggest difference between them being the ability to play physical games and movies through a Blu-ray Disc drive. Microsoft's plans for Lockhart to support physical games are still unknown, though the company has experimented with making disc-free consoles before with All Digital Edition variants of the Xbox One S.