Xbox has announced some changes to the Xbox Series X|S power modes that will allow it to perform similarly whilst asleep, yet use power more efficiently to work towards a more sustainable future.
The first of these is that starting today, Xbox Series X|S consoles on the Xbox Insider program will update to a new Shutdown (energy saving) option that will reduce power consumption whilst your power is off, but will not affect performance, gameplay or your console’s ability to update your system, games or apps overnight. This cuts the energy usage of Xbox consoles by up to 20X when compared to sleep mode.
Xbox has also announced a new “Active Hours” setting. This will allow you to still use the Sleep power option, but now adjust what hours your Xbox remains active. Your Xbox will remain active and ready to boot instantly during the hours your select to be active, whilst fully shutting down whilst in sleep mode. This can be customised to your choosing.
The last bit is a little bit more lost on me, but Xbox has also said that starting today, when your console is connected to the internet and regional carbon intensity data is available, Xbox will schedule your game, app and OS updates for your console at specific times during the night that will hopefully result in lower carbon emissions because of a higher proportion of electricity is coming from lower-carbon sources on the electric grid.
Obviously, we trust Xbox in making this decisions for the environment, so it’s great to see more variety and options, without much of a loss of anything on the console front.
