Zephyr dubbed 360 Elite, new details

by Richard Mitchell { Mar 20th 2007 at 3:30PM }

With the revelation that the black Xbox 360, also known as "Zephyr" is in fact real (the image above is a dev kit, by the way), Engadget has gathered some concrete details from a trusted source. Some of these details were uncovered earlier this morning, but some questions -- particularly the notion of built in WiFi -- are brand new. See the fresh details below.

First of all, the black Xbox 360 will be officially known as the Xbox 360 Elite.
The Elite will be manufactured in limited quantities, possibly a few hundred thousand.
Everything included with the unit will be black, including the case, controller, and Live headset. The packaging will be new as well.
The Elite will cost $479 and will be sold alongside Premium and Core packs.
Eventually, a white version of the Elite will replace Xbox 360 Premium packs. Presumably, this will happen shortly after the Elite is sold out. Once this happens, Premiums will include the 120 GB HDD and HDMI.
There is no solid date for the Elite-to-Premium transition, though it is estimated to happen late summer or early fall.
The Elite runs cooler than the current Premium, but it is unknown if it takes advantage of 65nm chips.
Prices could remain the same when Premiums convert to 120GB/HDMI, but a price cut may still occur once the 65nm chips are implemented.
The HD-DVD player will definitely not be bundled with the Elite and Microsoft stands by its claim that it has no plans to ever integrate an HD-DVD drive into the Xbox 360.
There are no plans to integrate WiFi into the Elite or future Premium packs.

So there you have it, everything we know about the Elite until Microsoft decides to send out an official press release. Now that you know all the details (especially the bit about the Elite running cooler), do you plan on picking up an Xbox 360 Elite?

Tags: elite, xbox 360 elite, Xbox360Elite

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

KR @ Mar 20th 2007 3:43PM

Man, this sounds like such a mess. And they're not even discontinuing the Core? Ugh.

a ham sandwich @ Mar 20th 2007 3:47PM

im not sure what to think. my intuition SCREAMS "april fools", but all these reports are the same, and seem to be pretty consistent. if it is true, and the only added benefits are a larger hdd and hdmi, i think ill get the hdd as an add-on and call it a day, cuz for $479 it seems to me that theres no damn difference.

Richard DeV @ Mar 20th 2007 3:50PM

I want to get one but how will I get to keep my current Gamercard if I get this new 120gb HD? If I can keep it and all my arcade games I already baught then Im buying one.

DjDATZ @ Mar 20th 2007 3:51PM

i have no need to buy this...as much as i would love to...i have no money for this...unless eb is offering it...and i can trade in my current 360 for almost the same price...but then...what would i do with all the downloadable content i downloaded...and all my gamesaves? how would i transfer those over? i'll stick with my white 360 even tho i wanna get this.

Bravo6 @ Mar 20th 2007 3:51PM

I've been debating getting another 360 for one of my other HDTVs, this looks like perfect timing. I'll definitely be picking one up.

ninja fr0g @ Mar 20th 2007 4:04PM

It is a bit confusing, as far as SKUs and pricepoints. If for some reason my 360 conks out on me, at least I have the option of upgrading to something better. HDMI connectivity is a big plus, IMO.

THA1icarus @ Mar 20th 2007 4:08PM

limited quantities hey,
So we Europeans r f*cked, Again.
Well 1 thing I'm thankful of that I don't have a Launch machine....

Brian @ Mar 20th 2007 4:09PM

Heck ya I do! I've been holding off for as long as I could to get the XBOX and I finally can! Yeah baby!

ShaolinDolemite @ Mar 20th 2007 4:10PM

APRIL FOOLS, SUCKAS!

blamecanada @ Mar 20th 2007 4:19PM

My guess is that they will have it in black for a high price for awhile (couple of months) and then they will make it white and sell it at the $400 price point or below. I'd really rather see a price cut than a bump in specs.

Killer @ Mar 20th 2007 4:21PM

To be released in less than a month from now. Seems kinda strange. Microsoft doesn't wait till the last day to announce something like this. It has to be a joke. Would love it to be true, I would have to find someone that will want to buy my 360 for $380 so I can get it. Other then that, this is an april fools joke.

@7 I sort of have a launch console. It was made 11-27-2005. 2 days after the launch? It working like a dream, in fact it's been in my house for 1 year. :)

Ps. Don't worry this screams april fools!

Benjamin09 @ Mar 20th 2007 4:29PM

I will pick one up.

moore @ Mar 20th 2007 4:30PM

Uh, yeah, april fools by multiple sources? Its real.

To the guy wodnerabout his gamercard: You mean your live account? It has very little to do w/ your console, you can move it around from 360 to 360 constantly if you wish. You will need some way to move savegames though. I dunno about any ms solution other than memory cards for that, but you could use Datel's voerprice pc adaptor for the 360 HD, yank everything off, and toss it onto the new drive, maybe.

BowserUSC @ Mar 20th 2007 4:47PM

Doesnt april fools usually happen on the first of april?

icecube9292 @ Mar 20th 2007 4:52PM

I will save the money and paint mine black. what about hdmi? when i upgrade my tv they will have the white versions out of the xboxes and i will just have to pickup a can of spraypaint... purple sounds better

Mikeawesome @ Mar 20th 2007 5:05PM

This is one of those things that, yeah, I'd want it, especially for the 120GB HDD, however, I know I don't really NEED all that space, especially since I don't think I'm even qualified for IPTV.

As someone else said, unless my 360 decides it hates me and dies, I won't be picking this up.

Killer @ Mar 20th 2007 5:06PM

Umm it can be fake. Multiple sources means nothing. If all the information is coming from one source, then all those Multiple sources are really only one source. It just seems fishy that's all. Plus what would piss off both ps3 and 360 fanboys. If this is fake it will, because ps3fanboy will be laughing thinking that 360 owners got screwed and the 10.4 million or more 360 owners will be calling foul to microsoft. It seems like a perfect april fools. Just saying.

Until I see the TRUE press release I'm not even going to care about this crap.

Ed @ Mar 20th 2007 5:13PM

Err, I saw a print ad for this in my local EBgames--it's real.

Ogden2k @ Mar 20th 2007 5:23PM

I'd only be interested if I can transfer my current game saves that are **tied** to my HDD. You cannot copy your Viva Pinata game save from a HDD to a memory card.

The Lamonster @ Mar 20th 2007 5:59PM

I will buy it if my current 360 brakes by then...which is a good possibility as it constantly freezes up.

Also, a question nobody is addressing - will it be possible to buy a separate BLACK controller? I would love that.

Gemini Ace @ Mar 20th 2007 6:32PM

Time to start selling blood. I want this bad boy.

John @ Mar 20th 2007 6:43PM

Maybe MS will fix serial number integration for xbla games with a surge in people buying new 360s. If not, they better plan to hear a lot of people bitching on their forums about it.

Perses @ Mar 20th 2007 7:56PM

I agree with Ogden2k - give me a way to transfer all of my current HDD content, game saves, music, etc. and allow me to play my XBLA content offline and I'd buy one instantly.

EricOSU @ Mar 20th 2007 8:08PM

WTF $480 just so I can have HDMI! They've got to have an HDMI cable in the works for my current XBox. I'll pay the extra money for a 120 GB HDD but as long as everything I have now stays with my gamecard but I'm not buying a new one until my current one croaks. Let's hope that's after the 65nm chips and the price drop.

Mr Pimpbot @ Mar 20th 2007 8:26PM

Does anyone know if this has the quieter BenQ DVD drive?

robk @ Mar 20th 2007 8:27PM

what the fuck? id buy one but i have one already and dont think that i need a bigger harddrive and hdmi isnt neccessary and you can get the color case mods for 45 bucks online. therefore if mine suddeny breaks, i will buy it, but otherwise, suck it m$.

Mitch @ Mar 20th 2007 8:35PM

@Richard

You will be able to keep your gamercard, stats, and arcade games. When you buy something on XBLM, it will remember forever that your gamertag bought it. All you have to do, when you buy a new HDD or the Elite system is recover your old gamertag (very easy)...so you don't need to worry about that ;)

CKpr @ Mar 20th 2007 8:36PM

It's all part of M$'s secret weapon... make everything optional, but charge a premium for it.

I was "lucky" enough to be 13th in line on launch day and got stuck with a core system (which I quickly updated with a memory card, headset, HD cables, Wireless controllers, Wifi, HDD, etc.). I probably paid around $600 in hardware... thankfully I haven't had any issues with it.

I would only buy this one if it ships exclusively with the quiet drive and even quieter fans. I love my 360, but damn it's loud! It gets hot too...my HD-DVD overheats sometimes if I put them too close together (even when it's not in use).

Darrien Woomer @ Mar 20th 2007 8:58PM

Now if this is real than Im gonna be a litttle mad. Now I dont really care about the HDMI but I kinda like the black. Also does this mean the 20 gb drive will get a major price drop. Cause if it $100 for the 20 gb than does this mean the 120 gb wil be $600. Yeah I know thats never gonna happen with the $600 but there has to be a price drop. I also like that it runs coller too.

Killer @ Mar 20th 2007 9:02PM

@EricOSU

"They've got to have an HDMI cable in the works for my current XBox."

Sadly, it's extremely doubtful the av on the back isn't designed to put out that type of power. They could though release a switch that you connect your component to and it switches it to HDMI. Thoses are really expensive though, around $300 for one that pretty much converts everything under the sun to anything.

Matthew Mac @ Mar 20th 2007 9:08PM

If this is true, a big if since this thing is like Big Foot, I would get one if EB or Gamecrazy gave me a badass trade-in. Otherwise, meh, I already have one.

Shama Edward Banks Jr. @ Mar 20th 2007 9:21PM

Of course this is true. They have to make a new 360 with improved chips, because of all the hardware failure. It's happened to me a few times already, and everyone I know at least once. The new 360 will soften the blow to M$ when the forced recall occurs after the class action lawsuits.

If you can tell, I am kind of bitter, because my 360 blew up AGAIN and I am waiting for it to return from the repair center.

And if any of you do decide to buy the black 360 i would still buy an extended warranty. I wouldn't trust M$ one bit.

Kid Pyrrhic @ Mar 20th 2007 9:50PM

Am I the only guy that doesn't desperately want a black console?

As long as the hard drive is made seperate, I'm fine with whatever upgrades they introduce.

Killer @ Mar 20th 2007 9:59PM

Shama, sorry for you're bad luck. I usually have it, but not this time. My 360 was made 11-27-2005, I bought it last march. After 1 year it's still alive and kicking. I feel lucky about that. Oh and the idea that it will kill over sometime. I'm guessing not becuase if it can withstand the constant weekend, 13 to 14 hour straight gaming sessions I do. It would have killed over a long time ago. I only have one person that I know that has had their console choke. So out of the 20 people that I know personally only 1 has had the horrible 3 red ring. I feel sorry for you though dude, I really do.

Perno @ Mar 20th 2007 10:10PM

Most of you guys are saying you won't buy it...that's because you already have one. This bad boy is aimed at people like me looking for a reason to pull the trigger and buy a 360. I wasn't so hot on this until this new development saying it will be limited edition.

I don't even have an HDTV and probably won't for another 5-7 years until they become more affordable...but limited edition + 120GB HD = enough to make me cash in this stack of Best Buy gift cards!

Arcaynn @ Mar 21st 2007 2:48AM

This indeed screams April Fools, but If it comes out, now is the time I'm gonna be getting the second 360 I've planned on for a while. My girlfriend wants her own and when I have friends over we can have mini system link parties.

If it helps, my friends that work at EB games have said there was a new SKU in their system from Microsoft for $479.. doesn't mean this isn't a random joke though.

JohnHeist @ Mar 21st 2007 2:49AM

My 360 is breaking. I imagine it won't be long before it's toast.
I'll be buying one, especially if it totally craps out.

If it doesn't, I'll probably move my current 360 to my living room, or sell it to my singer for cheaper than the Core.

the-ROOSTER- @ Mar 21st 2007 8:21AM

I'm hoping NOT april fools!

the-ROOSTER- @ Mar 21st 2007 8:21AM

YEs, absolutley.....I didn't "jump in" to next gen, waiting for the launch of the PS3. So far, I like MORE of what I see from Microsoft. I decided to wait even further, as soon as I heard RUMORS about an "upgraded" 360, late last year.

GLAD I WAITED!!! YES, I will DEFIANTELY buy on eof these, and PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE M$, give us a nugget of confirmation soon dang it!

vadermaggot @ Mar 21st 2007 1:30PM

I want to have one in my bedroom as well to stream movies to so I will probably buy one and move my premium unit into the bedroom

Stephen @ Mar 21st 2007 1:43PM

The real question is:

Will it come with the HDMI cable or will we have to fork out $60 to $100 on a cable?

Kewlguy @ Mar 21st 2007 3:05PM

This is an April Fools Joke. All of the Sources are getting their information from Game Informer Magazine and it explains near the last page that this is just a joke.

antonio @ Mar 21st 2007 3:52PM

I bought a 360 and returned it. Have a friend that works for Microsoft, told me in early Feb to "hold off" on getting one, couldnt tell me when it was coming , i just asked him within 6 mo , he said yes. I am pretty certain my friend of 15 years wouldnt bs me. I think it will come out soon. Microsoft wont announce til last minute because if they announce too early, people wont buy them and will wait to get all bells and whistles. Then you leave a bunch of them on the shelves. I want it for HDMI and bigger space. People say the HDMI is not a big deal. I have a 1080p tv hooked up with both HDMI on one of my settings and Component on the other. At first i never noticed much of a difference. After about 1 month , i now can tell when the setting is on component compared to HDMI< Hdmi is more clear, if you are a videophile like me, you will notice. If you arent not a big deal. I bought a high end TV so i want to play my games at best clarity and resolution , plus downloading Video will be nice. Just my 2 cents

wantanewgame @ Mar 22nd 2007 9:40PM

I HATE BILL GATES WHY WOULD HE DO THIS TO US YOU NEVER SEEN SONY PULL A STUPID STUNT LIKE THIS!!! THIS IS THE 360 THAT SHOULD HAVE CAME OUT FROM DAY ONE NOT THE PIECE OF CRAP I HAVE SITTING IN MY ENTERAINMENT CENTER THINGS LIKE THIS MAKES ME WANT TO GET A PS3...F*** MICROSOFT!!!!