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Microsoft surprised everyone with a teaser announcement of its upcoming Xbox Series X late last year. We didn’t get much aside from the name and a render of the monolithic case, but now a Twitter user has posted what appear to be real photos of the upcoming game console, complete with a Microsoft serial number on the rear. 

On the surface, the device in these images does indeed look like the one Microsoft showed off at the 2019 Game Awards. It’s a black box about twice as tall as it is wide with a slot on the front, presumably for the disc drive. There’s a small button above the slot that ought to eject discs. Microsoft’s original render had a controller leaning against the case, blocking the lower right corner. In the new leak, we can see a USB-A port and another button down there. We’re going to assume that’s the power button. 

Microsoft didn’t show us the backside of its console at the Game Awards, but the new leak shows a full array of ports, including a head-scratcher. There’s an HDMI, optical jack, power, ethernet, and two more USB-A ports (high-speed). Sadly, there aren’t any USB-C ports to be found, at least not on this alleged prototype. Interestingly, there’s also a sizeable rectangular port next to the HDMI. It doesn’t look like anything on the current Xbox consoles, suggesting Microsoft is planning some sort of proprietary add-on, possibly a new Kinect or VR headset. (It’s also possible this is a debugging port and will be removed from the final system -Ed). 

The back of the leaked console also sports a label identifying it as a prototype that is not for sale. Above that, the label includes the text “Xbox Product Name Placeholder.” It would be reasonably easy to fake all of this, but there’s also a serial number on that label that lends credence to the leak. You can enter that number on Microsoft’s website and register it with your account. It appears as a generic device called “Non-specificNon-specific.” This is not a typo. So, it seems like this is a legitimate Microsoft serial number for an unannounced product. 

The Twitter account that posted the images hasn’t provided any additional information about the device, and no one knows who the person might be. They’ve only tweeted a few times in the last few years, usually about Xbox-related news. Still, this is an early leak of what looks like almost final hardware. With the anticipated E3 unveiling still months away, there could be many leaks between now and then.

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