Xbox Series X has port to expand storage with CFexpress card

A rectangular slot in photos of the Xbox Series X is said to be intended to expand the storage memory with a CFexpress card. Recently photos came online that give an impression of the connections that the console might get.

It is a long, rectangular trench, which was suspected to be intended for performing diagnostic tasks. Thurrott’s Brad Sams now says that assumption was incorrect. He reports that that slot is intended to expand storage. He bases that on information from sources who are said to be familiar with Microsoft’s plans. Sams also points to a previous comment from a user, which already suggested the possibility of using CFexpress cards. Windows Central confirms this reading and states that Microsoft is testing the use of CFexpress cards.

This would be a way to give users the option to install some more games on the device. Certainly with the arrival of many more 4k games for the new generation of consoles and the associated high-quality textures, the required storage space will only increase. Depending on the capacity of the storage that comes standard in the console, and the storage space required for the installed games, expanding the storage space can be significant for users.

This expansion of the storage is also possible on the Xbox One, but that is done via the USB connection and that automatically means not too high read and write speeds. The relatively high read and write speeds of CFexpress cards can help prevent users from experiencing significant reductions in loading times when expanding storage.

The CompactFlash Association announced CFexpress 2.0 based on pci-e 3.0 with the nvme 1.3 protocol last year. There are three different formats for the memory cards: Type A, Type B and Type C, which use one, two and four PCI-e 3.0 lanes respectively for theoretical maximum transfer speeds of 1GB/s, 2GB/s and 4GB/s . CFexpress tickets are, however, still relatively expensive; 512GB copies are currently well over 500 euros.