Earlier this week, Digital Foundry reported on an issue that affected the original, VCR-like Xbox One models from being able to update if they were running a build of the Xbox operating system from November 2018 and earlier. Digital Foundry’s Richard Leadbetter writes that, based on a report from a NeoGAF user that their sealed Xbox One console was unable to update in any way—be it online or even via USB.
Digital Foundry were able to confirm on their end that they, too, were experiencing the same issue based on old Xbox One units they pulled from storage to test. One unit was dated back to a 2017 build of the OS while the other was marked for 2018. What’s notable about this is that the Xbox One console in particular is a very online-dependent console and, without the latest firmware upgrades or even that first-time boot update, the console is more or less unusable. Seriously, one might even wonder whether such hardware is fit as a doorstopper. The Kinect 2 does a good enough job of that.
Terrible jokes aside, Digital Foundry reached out to the Xbox team and on the 30th, Microsoft’s Jason Ronald was able to confirm that the company has fixed the issue. Said affected consoles, stuck in storage or sealed away, can now be fully updated.
Considering the number of SKUs and how frequently Microsoft updates their Xbox consoles, I can’t say that I’m entirely surprised by bugs that arise from supporting old hardware—remember, the Xbox One, particularly the VCR model, is nearly 11 years old and we’re not even talking about the specs of its hardware.
On the other hand, this is an example of what can happen to a piece of hardware that is reliant on an internet connection, if not at all times at least from time-to-time; I do agree with Richard. I personally believe the Xbox One is on-track to being one of the longest supported consoles on the market, even if it’s no longer being produced and sold in retail. What happens once these consoles hit end-of-life remains to be seen.
