Xbox series x restock – live: Today’s UK news and dates from AO, Game, John Lewis and more

Whenever AO.com restocks the Xbox series X, the retailer requires shoppers to jump through some strange hoops to get the console into their basket. The “add to basket” button will stay firmly greyed out, despite the console being available.

Here’s what you need to do. This only works on Google Chrome on the desktop.

• On the AO website, copy the Xbox series X’s product code, and paste it somewhere safe. You can find this code by right click on the Xbox’s product page, selecting ‘Inspect’ and searching for ‘productCode’. The most recent bundle was product code “RRT-00007AO-KTS1”.
• Now navigate to any random item on AO’s website. You’re just looking for a working ‘add to basket’ button.
• Right-click on the green ‘add to basket’ button beneath the random item and click ‘Inspect’. In the panel that appears at the side of the screen, replace the random product’s code with the Xbox’s product code. It’s the series of numbers and letters that immediately follows ‘data-productcode=’
• You’ve recoded this product’s working ‘add to basket’ button to point it to the in-stock Xbox. Well done Edward Snowden.
• Now click the button, the Xbox will slide into your basket.

The AO.com Xbox restock coincided with a flurry of fresh availability of the PlayStation 5, too.

This morning, Sony’s next-generation console came back into stock at John Lewis and EE. The former has now sold out, and you have to be an existing EE customer to take advantage of the latter offer.

This is yet more evidence that new stock of both consoles seems to be dropping at the same time. A cosmic console ballet, unfurling before our eyes. Check out our PS5 stock tracking liveblog for more updates.

AO.com had the Xbox series X in stock earlier this morning at 7:30am, though the console sold out faster than it took to eat our Weetabix.

It was the first time AO.com had restocked since 13 July, and the console was sold as part of a £504 bundle including an extra wireless controller.

Well that’s it for another day of tracking the live availability of the Xbox series X across every UK retailer simultaneously. Phew! Let me quickly grab my calculator to figure out how many amazing restocks we had today.

There were a total of 0 (zero) restocks.

But let’s not be disheartened. Every day without an Xbox brings us closer to the big drop we’ve all been waiting for. We predict new stock will arrive at Currys, Argos or AO.com some time in the next few days, based on how long these three retailers tend to go between restocks.

To be the first to know when new Xbox stock pops up, be sure to join us again on the liveblog tomorrow morning.

Microsoft isn’t the only company struggling to produce any consoles. The PlayStation 5 is about as difficult to find as the Xbox series X, though we’ve a better idea of which retailers are most likely to restock Sony’s next-generation console soon.

BT, yes the phone company, received an allocation of PS5s earlier today – though you had to have signed up for alerts from the retailer ahead of time to be in with a chance of buying one. Follow our PS5 stock tracking liveblog for more updates on new PS5 stock as it arrives.

There are two next-generation Xboxes, the less powerful Xbox series S and the more advanced Xbox series X. So what’s the difference?

Next-generation Xbox games will run on both consoles – you’ll see games advertised as being available for “Xbox series X/S” – though on the less powerful Xbox series S the overall graphics quality and performance will be dialled down. The Xbox series S does not have a disc drive, and can only play downloaded games, though it’s still fully backwards compatible with games for older Xbox consoles.

The Xbox series S is much easier to find in stock than the series X. It’s also cheaper and costs just £249 (Amazon.co.uk). Here are the Xbox series S’s specs:

• CPU: Custom Zen 2 8-core CPU
• GPU: 4 TFLOPS, 20 CUS
• Memory: 10GB GDDR6
• Storage: 512GB SSD
• Max resolution: 1440p at 60fps

And for comparison, these are the Xbox series X specs below. There’s a pretty big gulf between the two consoles in terms of hardware, so if you’re in search of a truly next-generation upgrade we’d wait for the Xbox series X to come back in stock.

• CPU: AMD 8-core Zen 2 @ 3.8 GHz
• GPU: 12TFLOPS, 52 CUs @ 1.825 GHz
• Memory: 16GB GDDR6
• Storage: 1TB custom WD SSD, optional 1TB Seagate expansion card
• Max resolution: 8K at 60fps, 4K at 120fps

For those of you just joining us, hello! The Xbox series X is out of stock everywhere, and now you’re up to speed.

There’s a healthy chance we’ll see a restock at Smyths Toys this month. The retailer hasn’t had the Xbox series X in stock online since mid-June, though we hear it’s possible to find the console in some physical stores. If you have a local branch it’s worth dropping in and asking about availability.

When the Xbox is in stock online, Smyths is one of three retailers – along with Game and 4Gadgets – to offer the Xbox All Access programme, a pay-as-you-go alternative to buying the console at full price. You pay £28.99 per month for 24 months, get Xbox Game Pass Ultimate thrown in, and own the console at the end of the term.

This might tide you over while we wait for the Xbox series X to come back into stock: Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers can play a selection of Xbox games on their PC right now using Microsoft’s cloud streaming service.

You don’t need a gaming PC, just a fast enough internet connection. Xbox Cloud Gaming streams games from Microsoft’s servers to your laptop or phone, via your internet browser or the Xbox app. Cloud gaming requires a membership to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate (£32.99, Argos.co.uk), which unlocks on-demand access to more than 100 games.

Thankfully, decent laptops are much easier to find than the Xbox series X. If you’re thinking of upgrading, check out our list of the best laptops in 2021.

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Our profile of the most advanced Xbox yet describes a powerful machine that’s still waiting on truly next-generation games to take advantage of the hardware. The pandemic has slowed more than just the production of games consoles. Many videogames have had their development schedules delayed by the sudden shift to remote working in 2020, meaning the launch dates of major titles have had to be pushed back.

Still, the Xbox series X is impressive. As our reviewer (well, I) put it, “inside the black box are some seriously powerful components, matching a high-end gaming PC in a chassis that’s about the size of a loaf of Hovis.”