Summary
On June 13, 2016, during its E3 2016 press conference, Microsoft unveiled Xbox One S, a revision of the original Xbox One hardware with a streamlined form factor. Its new casing is 40% smaller than the original design, and supports vertical orientation with a stand. The capacitive power and eject keys were replaced by physical buttons,[185] the side USB port and controller sync button were moved to the front of the console, and its power supply is integrated into the console's casing rather than sitting externally. Xbox One S requires a USB adapter to attach a Kinect sensor, as it no longer includes the proprietary port used on the original model.[222] A free USB adapter was provided by Microsoft to Kinect owners who registered their ownership of Kinect and Xbox One S online, but this promotion ended in March 2017. Although Microsoft stated that it would eventually bundle the adapter with standalone Kinect units, this has yet to occur.[223][222] Xbox One S natively supports video output at 4K resolution, and high dynamic range (HDR) color using HDR10. 4K video can be played from supported streaming services and Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc,[222][224][225] Games are upscaled from 1080p to 4K.[185] Rod Fergusson, head of Microsoft's Gears of War studio The Coalition, stated that Xbox One S also had upgraded CPU and GPU components, which were capable of providing more consistent performance in Gears of War 4 during graphics-intensive sequences than the previous hardware.[226] While Xbox planning lead Albert Penello initially stated that the additional CPU and GPU access granted to developers for Xbox One S is to enable HDR and would have "literally no impact" on the performance of games,[227] games with dynamic resolution or uncapped frame rates can see increased performance due to higher GPU clock speed and ESRAM bandwidth.[228] Xbox One S also ships with a revision of the Xbox One controller, with textured grips and Bluetooth support.[222][229] Xbox One S is available in 500 GB, 1 TB, and "special edition" 2 TB models, which originally retailed at US$299, $349, and $399 respectively. The 2 TB model was released on August 2, 2016,[222][230] and 1 TB and 500 GB models were released on August 23, 2016.[231] On June 11, 2017, Microsoft lowered the prices of the 500 GB Battlefield 1 and 1 TB Forza Horizon 3 Xbox One S console bundles by US$50.[232] In August 21, 2017, Microsoft announced Xbox One S Minecraft Limited Edition console bundle at Gamescom In August 2017 for release on October 3.
