AMD admits using fake render to show off Xbox Series X

One of the more interesting things that AMD showed off during its keynote late last night was a shiny new render of the Xbox Series X. It was more detailed than anything we’d seen before–but it made sense for AMD to be showing it off. As the designated manufacturer for Xbox (and PlayStation) next-gen chips, it stands to reason they’d be privy to some advanced info and might be authorised to give us a glimpse of the impending machine.

Their presentation gave us a closer look at the machine, showing us the system’s Blu-Ray disc drive and eject button, along with a plethora of ports along the rear; an ethernet port, Toslink optical and audio out, two USB 3 SS ports, a pair of HDMI ports and a two-pin (C8) power input. It led many tech-inclined outlets to imagine that the ports must be HDMI 2.1, which is the only HDMI standard to date that allows for 4K resolutions at refresh rates higher than 60hz (you’d need to use Displayport otherwise) and also supports resolutions of 8K. The second HDMI – as in the current Xbox One series – allows the console to be used as a set-top box. The c8 power pin suggests that the console would ditch the external power supply, just as happened with the Xbox One X.

The only problem? The render wasn’t legitimate, and AMD later had to admit that they sourced it from TurboSquid – a digital media company that sells stock 3D models used in 3D graphics to a variety of industries – and not Microsoft themselves.

“The Xbox Series X imagery used during the AMD CES press conference was not sourced from Microsoft and does not accurately represent the design or features of the upcoming console,” an AMD spokesperson said in a statement to The Verge. “They were taken from TurboSquid.com.”

Header image via TurboSquid.com

Last Updated: January 8, 2020