Xbox One S All-Digital Edition still has an eject button and disc drive port inside

By Matt Brown
last updated

Microsoft's new Xbox One S All-Digital Edition still retains remnants of the disc drive.

Microsoft has taken the wraps off the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition, its new disc-free console primed for always-connected gaming. Dropping the internal disc drive and passing $50 savings onto buyers, it's the lowest Xbox One retail price to date at $249.

While the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition is slated for a May 7, 2019 release, we've already received a glimpse under the hood. The Xbox One S All-Digital Edition generally fulfills its initial promises, merely cutting the internal optical disc drive for a lightweight, low-cost gaming console. Microsoft appears to be sharing identical components of the standard Xbox One S; even leaving space to add a disc drive back.

The Xbox One S disc drive SATA and power ports, which also transfer to Xbox One S All-Digital Edition.

The Xbox One S disc drive SATA and power ports, which also transfer to Xbox One S All-Digital Edition.

Our first in-depth look inside the Xbox One S All-Digital comes via Austin Evans, receiving an early hands-on with the console before its reveal. The video provides a full unboxing of Microsoft's download-only console, while also exploring what has changed inside the all-white box. And it's mostly the same, albeit with new metal panel reinforcing where the drive once laid.

The Xbox One S' former disc eject button is still seemingly found under the console's casing.

The Xbox One S' former disc eject button is still seemingly found under the console's casing.

However, by sharing components with its predecessor, the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition still stows remnants of its disc drive. Evans refers to spare SATA and proprietary power ports on the All-Digital board; the two previously used to connect the disc drive itself. The radio frequency board up front also still features the same eject button, now simply masked by the All-Digital's new casing.

It's unclear whether the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition will support a Blu-ray drive, though indicates a potential DIY post-purchase upgrade path for console buyers. The Xbox One operating system appears capable of detecting its absence, though it's unknown if Microsoft has locked out capabilities entirely at a software level.

In the meantime, the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition is now available for preorder at $249, ahead of a May 7, 2019 debut.

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Matt Brown
Matt Brown

Matt Brown was formerly a Windows Central's Senior Editor, Xbox & PC, at Future. Following over seven years of professional consumer technology and gaming coverage, he’s focused on the world of Microsoft's gaming efforts. You can follow him on Twitter @mattjbrown.

8 Comments
  • > It's unclear whether the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition will support a Blu-ray drive, though indicates a potential post-purchase upgrade path for console buyers. That's probably not planned, but not blocked neither.
    The Reason for the internals to be here is probably just to share the same production lines, that's very common and only a sign that MS do not plan to abandon the version with the drive.
  • Yeah, I would guess the next version will have its own design, but it makes sense for this one to be pretty much identical, sans drive. It wouldn't be cost effective to design a completely new case and internals for a minor addition to an already existing line.
  • it's unclear why this is $250 when regular xb1s are cheaper than that already.
  • The Xbox One S actually has a retail price of $299. It's just constantly on sale and has different bundle promotions. I imagine Microsoft made the All-Digital Edition $249 so that it could have the same sales as the normal One S and not be ridiculously underpriced in comparison. Expect it to be around $50 less, usually.
  • They just did the minimum to reduce cost, another reason why I find the final price is so ridiculous.
  • So can we add an internal SATA hard drive using the ODD SATA & power ports? If we can, that would be awesome.
  • Agree makes no sense that this thing is $249. I expected it to be around $179 it's almost like they're trying to blow out existing inventory and they ran out of blue ray drives.
  • While it's unfortunate that Microsoft didn't redesign the device with a much smaller casing, I understand. It doesn't make sense to spend the R&D and design a new production line right before the new generation arrives. This also helps keep costs down. And for those crying about the price, I doubt we'll see this console at the full $249 price tag all that much. Be aware the One S actually has a retail cost of $299, but normally goes for around $230-250. Expect the digital version to be around $50 less a lot of the time.