The Xbox One release has seen a lot of mixed reactions among fans and critics, primarily with anger and disappointment due to Microsoft's several policies surrounding the console not helping its cause. With its nearest potential rival in the market, Sony's PlayStation 4, gaining the upper hand, the Redmond-based company had to alter a few of its policies to stay in the race and achieve some kind of a decent sales figure.
However, with both consoles' releases still some time away, it may be a good time for Microsoft to make up for all the lost ground and offer something in to consumers to at least try to get a step ahead of Sony. A potential system or spec upgrade is the best way to approach that goal (although it doesn't really justify the $100 extra cash for the Xbox One).
When Microsoft first introduced the next-gen console to the world, it was already marked with a bogus always-online DRM, a mandatory Kinect attachment that would always keep track of what you do, a system that wouldn't support used games, and all the different existing problems related to Xbox Gold.
Microsoft was adamant in the beginning about its newly introduced policies with the Xbox One and even stood by their side for a couple of months. However, with the console already showcasing a $100 more price tag compared to what Sony's PS4 was offering, Microsoft finally decided to let go of the issue and removed the always-on DRM and the used games restrictions. But that didn't mean that the One was still not underpowered as compared to the PS4.
Not too long ago, there was a report making rounds on the web stating that Microsoft's Xbox One could be set for a major upgrade in the clock speed department. Similarly, the Examiner reported earlier this month that the Xbox One's GPU could receive a boost in clock speed, and the 8GB of DDR3 RAM will now increase to 12GB.
However, the same report was later updated with a quote from a source related to the development of the console. The source stated: "The bump was supposed to have been planned prior to initial reveal. Any actual changes would have taken place during E3 Week. Effectively, the way the RAM is set out in the machine, Microsoft realized they could be more efficient in its use without sacrificing the amount set aside for OS operation. They immediately reacted."
"Physical RAM won't be upped in time for November release as it was too late even during initial reveal, but developers are saying, in terms of efficiency of the RAM and the reported yield problems, Microsoft have made some snappy breakthroughs and gave the impression it was a straight up increase in clock speed; hence the rumor."
Now, nobody here has a major understanding of what goes on inside the minds of companies currently in the console race, but as far as common sense is involved, and judging by what we have already seen, consoles normally don't go through any full time hardware upgrades or tweaking in a lifespan.
The maximum that ends up happening is that they either become concerned as to how much less power they can consume to run the system, or just shed some weight like Xbox 360 Slim. Truthfully, it's quite rare that a console will go through spec reconsideration after the company has already made the official announcement.
Going back to that previous report, the rumor surrounding the device's RAM probably initiated from the an earlier report stating that Xbox One dev kits are shipping with 12GB of RAM, and was also explained after the same Examiner source claimed that the console's retail kits will not offer that much RAM.
It's highly unlikely that Microsoft will go ahead with a potential spec review for the One, but even if the company does move ahead to change these details, it shouldn't be much of a surprise for anyone. If not that, at least improvements in the Xbox Gold payment policies and a slightly lower price tag are obviously expected. Now it's up to Microsoft how it deals with these issues before its planned November release.