A leak from Guitar Center unveiled a possible Akai MPC XL, which might be the successor to the flagship MPC X.
In October, Akai introduced the next generation of its MPC standalone lineup with the MPC Live III, including new 3D-sensing pads, an 8-core processor, and more.
It looks like another family member will be upgraded to the latest generation as early as January, so just ahead of NAMM 2026. Today, there was a leak about the new Akai MPC XL, which occurred at a Guitar Center store in the US.
Leak: Akai MPC XL
It’s become almost a tradition. Akai can’t keep any product secret until its release. As with the Akai MPC Live III, the MPC XL has also been leaked a month in advance via a shop leak. This time, it comes from a big player, Guitar Center.
The leaked images show a completely redesigned flagship model of the MPC standalone series. This will likely replace the 2023 MPC X Special Edition, which will be discontinued.
In the images, the device appears wider than the MPC X, and the layout has changed a lot. There is a black section where the display is located, and a gray area containing 16 pads with 3D sensing technology.
Alongside the 16 pads, the gray section features numerous buttons, a large knob on the right side, as well as the new touch strip on the left, introduced with the MPC Live III.
In the center, there are 16 knobs with displays. The picture above shows the unit with an odd setup of 17 knobs. It’s possible the photo was edited with AI, and the AI added a knob, which would be strange.
Knobs with displays are a unique feature of the MPC X, and this is retained here, but with an elongated design.
Like on the MPC Live III, each knob also features a backlit button to control the step sequencer. Again, there are 16 buttons (in the picture with the boxes). Yes, on the possible AI-edited picture, the hardware has one additional button.
The top section houses the display, which can be swivelled. It also includes additional control elements, including buttons. The new section with the VU meters and dedicated knobs is particularly noteworthy.
Hardware Specs
There are no details yet regarding the hardware specifications. I suspect we’ll see the same as in the MPC Live III: an 8-core CPU, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of internal memory, or more.
Also, it is unknown whether it uses the same touch display as the MPC X or has been upgraded.
According to the Guitar Center leak, the MPC XL will cost $2,899.99, just under $ 3,000. Rumours suggest it will be unveiled between January 15th and 20th, coinciding with NAMM 2026.
At first glance, the photos look legitimate. The only thing that makes me suspicious is the 17 knob/step buttons. Since NAMM 2026 starts in Anaheim (US) in less than a month, this release would make sense.
Time will tell whether the pictures are accurate to the Akai MPC XL.
More information will follow here: Akai Pro
Odd that on the box it shows just 16 q-link knobs and 16 step buttons vs that main pic showing 17 of each
Heh, good catch! Something about that main image is kinda off. Looks edited, with how skewed it looks; like a messed up render.
It’s definitely AI, someone just said “turn this box shot into a photo”. 17 knobs, AKAI logo has a lower case ‘I’, text is distorted, last two knobs have a division…
One photo is manipulated with AI that for sure. Probably to enlarge the photo but why then 17 knobs, don’t know.
The other looks legitime. The “lower case AKAI Logo”, check the new MPC Live III, same logo 🙂
Nothing lower case about the logo in the real photo. The AI photo uses lowercase, you can see the lowercase “i”.
check the photos where you can see boxes. They have the regular I. And again this photo is AI manipulated. We know it.
If the person use SDXL model to upscale, the upscaler may have introduced artifacts or what civilians call AI slop. SDXL isnt that great at text. Flux isn’t either. But for the looks if it its SDXL. The additional knob introduced could also be bad prompting. With AI, you get a lot of weirdness so you just rerun the workflow until you get something you want. This person probably just ran it once and said screw it.
From your friendly neighborhood guy who uses AI models professionally. Pro-tip: Use nano banana pro for EVERYTHING.
Of course! I should have known…
100% that’s what happened – someone has just put the image of the box into an AI platform and said ‘remove the background and enhance the image’ and in true consumer-grade AI fashion it’s gone off produced a load of random artifacts, like garbled text and an extra knob! Otherwise looks like a nice evolution of the MPC X, step sequencer and MPCe bits
Its probably a good machine.. but damn does it look ugly lol
Having q-link knobs arranged horizontally when the touchscreen has them arrayed vertically is a horrific piece of design…
Its expected for Akai to put the same computer in all the MPCs, they already did Live3, XL coming so next is Keys and One. They save money buying the SoC boards in volume and keep MPC OS consistent across devices. It’ll be interesting how they implement this new design ethos in the MPC One since its supposed to be smaller and cheaper…
Fun fact: the Ableton Move uses a Raspberry Pi lol
and Rasperry Pi is a powerful DSP. Often underrated. It all depends how you programm your stuff. Check Zythian or the Korg digital synths offers plenty of voices and features and uses a Raspi.
Yes, Korg R&D team moved to the RPi Compute Module 3 (CM3) to power OpSix, Wavestate and Modwave. I think the MonoPoly too. Polyend use it in the Mini Tracker and the Play+. Monome, Critter & Guitari… there are quite a few that use it.
What Ive heard about the Zynthian is that its laggy and freeze a lot so its more of a fun RPi project than production/live music-making equipment. This was like 2 years ago tho.
Based on the current trend regarding upgrading the hardware specs (CPU,RAM,pads,steps buttons, etc…), the next MPC One won’t be “cheap” anymore, nor will the next MPC KEY-37. I’d be willing to bet the cheapest next generation MPC (the next MPC One) would be $999 at the minumum with the next-generation MPC Key-37 coming in at $1299, just behind the MPC Live III, which is currently $1699. That would be my guess regarding the new pricing structure. However, we’ll see when it happens.
Could be! This issue with RAM and NAND going up in price can definitely push the price upwards. The MPC One+ price went down to $599, if MPC One MK2 (MPC 2?) goes to $999 some folks might chose the older model which is a very good unit btw.
Interestingly from this “standalone stuff” like Push 3, Maschine+ etc, the only things Ive seen locally in the wild are the Force most of the time and the One. Seems the Force sold ok, wonder if We’ll see a Force 2.
I think they sold more MPC’s than Force’s for obvious reasons. The MPC is the MPC. But I liked the force a lot more, was like an MPC + Push. Even got the arranger first. The forse is a device that could evolve into the perfect standalone device while the MPC will always be trapped int he 16 pads which is kind of pointless when they’re releasing synths every few weeks. The MPC is a device thats deprioritized its pads for knobs and buttons but th einterface doesnt allow for too many knobs and pads. I’d take the MPC with no pads and just set it up to a midi keyboard and save the money. The mpc keys is just too ackward, reaching for the screen and knobs. Should have went with something liek the digitone with keys or the expressive-e osmose.