Xbox One May Soon Get External Storage

With 500 GB of internal storage and game downloads that often top 50 GB, an Xbox One can hold somewhere between 10 and 15 big-budget games. New evidence from a confirmed Xbox One developer suggests that users will be able to add external hard drives in a future update, increasing available storage space by a theoretically unlimited amount.

The information comes via a thread in Reddit's Xbox One section. User "XboxOneDev," who is indeed a confirmed developer for the Xbox One, added a photo of the Xbox One interface with a notification that reads "External Drive: External Drive Ready."

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The drive in question is 29.4 percent full and still has 585.9 GB free, indicating that an "empty" drive would have about 830 GB storage available. Given space for system files and Xbox One formatting, this seems to suggest that the Xbox One will be able to support drives up to at least 1 TB.

The developer does not share when the update will hit consumer Xbox Ones, but promises "Soon…" Given the photograph, the "soon" timeframe and Microsoft's lack of a crackdown on the supposed leak, there's every reason to believe that the update will be out sometime in the near future.

What consumers don’t know yet is what kind of external hard drives will receive support — the Xbox One has three USB 3.0 ports, fast enough for rapid data transfer — and what the upper limits of storage space might be. If you plan to amass an enormous Xbox One library, it would be easier and arguably cheaper to buy a single 4 TB drive rather than four 1 TB drives, for example.

The Xbox One's nearest competitor, the PlayStation 4, does not support external storage, but does allow users to replace its internal 500 GB hard drive with up to 2 TB of storage. Replacing the internal hard drive on the Xbox One is possible, but voids the warranty.

Buying Xbox One games on discs does not save much space, either: Each game still installs completely to the hard drive for an optimal play experience.

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Marshall Honorof

Marshall Honorof is a senior editor for Tom's Guide, overseeing the site's coverage of gaming hardware and software. He comes from a science writing background, having studied paleomammalogy, biological anthropology, and the history of science and technology. After hours, you can find him practicing taekwondo or doing deep dives on classic sci-fi. 

  • Zepid
    You say "may" like Microsoft themselves didn't confirm last year at E3 2013 in June that the console would accept user expandable storage for Xbox One content, just not at launch as it was a non-essential feature when games were sparse. User expandable as in, generic over USB 3.0, no proprietary BS - though they will offer Microsoft branded gear if you want to pay extra for less.
    Reply
  • p05esto
    I have an X1, but am not that happy. MS messed up badly this time around (big time).
    Problems:
    1) No replaceable hard drive
    2) Ugly design, I like square and solid, but this is just ugly (why doesn't the x glow green??)
    3) No stinking DLNA support? WTF is this? For a multimedia machine that doesn't browse my 3500 movies on home server it's very sad. Very disappointed in this missing feature.
    4) I only have basic cable, no HDMI support. Why? With more cord cutters MS should have considered a coax input for cable/antenna.
    5) Too much emphasis on social features (which I don't use at all, I play games alone.
    6) Hardware is underpowered big time. I can't tell much difference between 360 games
    7) Why doesn't this think support 4k resolution? This fall I'm planning on a 4K 60" TV and these Ultra HD screens have been out for a while now. In a couple years the X.box is going to look like has-been technology

    In general this generation of consoles sucks and are outdated before they even hit the shelf. There also are not many good games out yet. I can live with that for a while, but not all the other problems.
    Reply
  • Kvally
    I have an X1, but am not that happy. MS messed up badly this time around (big time).
    Problems:
    1) No replaceable hard drive
    2) Ugly design, I like square and solid, but this is just ugly (why doesn't the x glow green??)
    3) No stinking DLNA support? WTF is this? For a multimedia machine that doesn't browse my 3500 movies on home server it's very sad. Very disappointed in this missing feature.
    4) I only have basic cable, no HDMI support. Why? With more cord cutters MS should have considered a coax input for cable/antenna.
    5) Too much emphasis on social features (which I don't use at all, I play games alone.
    6) Hardware is underpowered big time. I can't tell much difference between 360 games
    7) Why doesn't this think support 4k resolution? This fall I'm planning on a 4K 60" TV and these Ultra HD screens have been out for a while now. In a couple years the X.box is going to look like has-been technology

    In general this generation of consoles sucks and are outdated before they even hit the shelf. There also are not many good games out yet. I can live with that for a while, but not all the other problems.

    I have an X1, but am not that happy. MS messed up badly this time around (big time).
    Problems:
    1) No replaceable hard drive
    2) Ugly design, I like square and solid, but this is just ugly (why doesn't the x glow green??)
    3) No stinking DLNA support? WTF is this? For a multimedia machine that doesn't browse my 3500 movies on home server it's very sad. Very disappointed in this missing feature.
    4) I only have basic cable, no HDMI support. Why? With more cord cutters MS should have considered a coax input for cable/antenna.
    5) Too much emphasis on social features (which I don't use at all, I play games alone.
    6) Hardware is underpowered big time. I can't tell much difference between 360 games
    7) Why doesn't this think support 4k resolution? This fall I'm planning on a 4K 60" TV and these Ultra HD screens have been out for a while now. In a couple years the X.box is going to look like has-been technology

    In general this generation of consoles sucks and are outdated before they even hit the shelf. There also are not many good games out yet. I can live with that for a while, but not all the other problems.

    I haven't been happier with a console:

    1) Glad they are supporting removable storage devices that allow game installs, so I can take the HDD to a friend or family members house to play, unlike the PS4.
    2) Best looking console design out there for us Home Theater fanatics. It fits in great in the living room.
    3) Agreed that i needs DLNA
    4) HDMI support isn't just for TV. It's for more devices than just a cable box. Why limit themselves to only a coaxial input, and why force people to spend more money on a coaxial input they would never use?
    5) Many of us want even more social features
    6) Hardware is very nicely powered, and destroys the power in the old Xbox 360
    7) The console supports 4K resolution.

    Every console generation is outdated before it hits the shelf. If it wasn't, a console would run you a $1000. Just get a PC then.
    Reply