What simply occurred? Possible drained ready for a Microsoft transportable console, one artful modder took issues into his personal arms. Redherring32 has managed to create the world’s first transportable Xbox primarily based on the unique console, whereas detailing all the method by a collection of posts on X.
{Hardware} tinkerer Redherring32 took the heart from a respectable Xbox motherboard and packed all of it right into a surprisingly compact handheld type issue.
To be clear – this is not a software program emulation or some knockoff PC handheld, it took some actual {hardware} abilities and customized PCBs to make this attainable. It seems fairly properly made, too, with a degree of polish you possibly can solely anticipate from an officially-produced unit and the type of design that’d go extraordinarily properly with the Xbox mannequin that began all of it.
I constructed a conveyable Xbox.
This is not a PC handheld, it is not emulation, it is a actual motherboard from an actual Xbox. It has a 9″ 480p show, pure digital video/audio, 100W USB C cost and play, and I am at present including WiFi 6 for wi-fi Xbox Dwell performance.Sure, actually. pic.twitter.com/yK7p0vPqUn
– Redherring32 (@redherring32) October 18, 2024
Upfront, the console rocks a 9-inch 480p show. It additionally options 100 watt USB-C charging that juices up a lithium-ion battery (capability unknown) and even an built-in, fully-functional Xbox controller.
After all, pulling off this type of modding was no stroll within the park. Redherring32 says he needed to reverse engineer and redesign quite a few printed circuit boards from scratch, to not point out work out how one can reliably trim down the chunky Xbox motherboard into a conveyable footprint. Solely very particular motherboard fashions had been even appropriate. The method took a whopping 4 months.
“I needed to analysis Xbox motherboard trimming fully from scratch, a process that took me a bit over 4 months. No person had ever tried it earlier than,” he wrote. He additionally added that the challenge is made attainable by 12 completely different “totally customized” PCBs he designed.
Subsequent up, Redherring32 plans so as to add Wi-Fi 6 help for wi-fi Xbox Dwell multiplayer on-the-go.
In case you want to comply with on this legend’s footsteps, he has made your entire design open supply, together with an in depth information, schematics, and PCB supply information. Nevertheless, truly assembling one among these might be a giant technical problem.
It is price mentioning that Xbox boss Phil Spencer has been dropping not-so-subtle hints about wanting a conveyable Xbox for years now. Simply final June, he name-dropped handhelds just like the Steam Deck and ROG Ally, praising their capability to play video games regionally.
“I believe we should always have a handheld, too,” he instructed IGN in an interview.
Nevertheless, precise work on such a tool does not appear to have kicked off but over at Microsoft HQ. With the hand held gaming market persevering with to surge, although, the tease appears like the most important sign but. For now, this bodacious creation will suffice.
