What If the Next Xbox Console Was a NUC? (Premium)

As an Xbox fan, I’m still trying to digest Microsoft’s push into handheld gaming PCs and what that means to the platform. But a thought occurred to me this morning as I was hashing out the ramifications of the news with Laurent. What if this new generation of third-party gaming handhelds points the way to the future of Xbox consoles? That is, what if the next Xbox consoles were simply PCs? And not just PCs, but appliance-like PCs?

What if the next Xbox console was a NUC?

This idea–which, to be clear, sprung unbidden into my mind and is based on nothing more than me processing what just happened–makes more sense the more I think about it. It solves the problems with consoles in general. It solves the problems with Xbox consoles specifically because it means that more experienced third party hardware makers can sell them, and because it lets Xbox instantly leapfrog the console competition.

Last summer, I wrote about how recent advances in PC hardware and Windows 11 have transformed mainstream laptops into viable portable gaming rigs. In some ways, I was lucky to be so tuned in on this shift, as I had walked away from consoles after almost 20 years and had started gaming exclusively on the PC again. Long story short, PCs based on the latest Intel (“Lunar Lake” or newer) or AMD (Zen 5) microprocessors have powerful enough graphics to run the most demanding modern videogames with stunning quality at 1080p/60 FPS. And the AMD chips are even better, in that they can do so at higher resolutions (2.8K and up) and with even better quality and frame rates.

Given this, I was not surprised to see that the ASUS-branded Xbox handhelds that Microsoft just introduced come with AMD processors, though they are of the lower-end Z2 variety aimed at that portable gaming space. That’s fine, as those devices also ship with very small 7-inch/1080p/120 Hz displays, 16 or 24 GB of RAM, and 512 GB or 1 TB of M.2-based SSD storage. Their specifications map nicely to the form factor.

The laptops utilizing the latest Intel and AMD processors are Copilot+ PCs, so they offer even more powerful internals and bigger, higher resolution displays that likewise map nicely to those form factors. The two I use the most often as I write this both offer 2.8K (2880 × 1800) display panels with 120 Hz refresh rates, for example. And games like Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 run spectacularly on these laptops. Again, better on AMD.

Given this, it’s not difficult to imagine the same hardware paired used in a NUC form factor PC. But you don’t have to imagine it. They’re common. And they’re reasonably inexpensive, especially in an era when the highest-end PlayStation 5 and Xbox consoles cost $600 or more. They would be even more impressive if they ran the same optimized Windows version Microsoft is offering on gaming handhelds.

Microsoft’s improvements to Windows have helped transformed this formerly buggy and unreliable platform into something that Xbox console fans will recognize and embrace. But that’s just the start. NUC-style Xbox consoles could be made by multiple hardware makers, improving competition and helping Microsoft eliminate its biggest gaming-related costs. They would be more scalable and could easily outstrip whatever it is that Sony delivers in current and future PlayStation generations. It would be easier for developers because it would be a single platform, not two, that scales seamlessly across form factors.

There is almost no downside I can think of to this shift, imagined though it is in part. And if Microsoft successfully shifts to Arm, as I expect, it will get even better. But that doesn’t even have to happen with desktop form factor consoles, where the efficiency gains are less important. Perhaps the future here is x64 on power and Arm on the go.

It doesn’t matter. This idea makes sense. And unlike just adding a new subcategory of gaming handhelds to Xbox, this could actually save the platform. It’s almost too obvious.

One more thought. The term NUC was an Intel invention. But do you remember which company bought that product line from Intel? Right. It was ASUS. The same company making the first Xbox gaming handhelds.

Interesting.