If you’ve been eyeballing an Xbox 360 for yourself or a loved one this holiday season, you might want to think twice about making a purchase this year. People familiar with the company’s plans have revealed that Microsoft is preparing to release the next generation Xbox, often called the Xbox 720, in time for the 2013 holiday buying season.

If Bloomberg’s sources are correct, we should expect to see the new console launch right around Thanksgiving 2013 stateside. Not at all surprising, Microsoft is remaining tight-lipped about the subject as of writing.

Project Durango (the codename for the new system) is expected to contain four processing cores, each with four logical cores. The final issue of Xbox World also believes we could see up to 8GB of RAM, directional audio, Kinect 2.0 support as well as Blu-ray capabilities. A new gamepad and augmented reality glasses are also expected at some point as well.

It remains unclear at this hour exactly what Microsoft will call the new console or how much it will be priced at. Xbox World doesn’t suspect Microsoft will stick with the 720 moniker. They think the console will take on a simpler name like “Xbox.”

These are all details that we likely won’t know the answers to until next year’s E3 conference or as the sources suggest, perhaps at a separate event dedicated sole to the console. That decision has reportedly not been made yet.

Do you already own a 360, are you planning to pick up one this year or are you going to hold off on investing in a Microsoft console until the next generation unit arrives?