Microsoft continues to take steps to rectify its highly questionable Xbox hardware and software choices. It will soon force all Xbox consoles to energy saving mode and introduce 'active hours'.

Xbox's 'instant on' mode (now 'Sleep') used to be the default setting on Xbox consoles everywhere except Europe, but the faster boot-up time (2-5s vs. 15s) puts a burden on the environment and could cost users over 500 million dollars in the US alone over 5 years, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

Microsoft is now taking steps to rectify some of its questionable choices. Last year, it switched to 'Shutdown (energy saving)' as the suggested mode when setting up a new Xbox Series console and soon it will push an update to all existing Xbox Series X/S consoles to switch them over to energy saving. 'Quick resume' for games will still work. The two new choices will be added to Xbox One consoles via an update starting this week.

- "This one-time update to your power settings will reduce your power consumption while your console is off, and will not affect performance, gameplay, or your console’s ability to receive overnight updates to system, games or apps," said Blaine Hauglie, Technical Program Manager, Xbox.



 Xbox's new power options. Picture: Microsoft

First carbon aware game console
Microsoft claims that Xbox is now also the first game consoles to be carbon aware for game downloads and updates.

- "For example, instead of your Xbox waking up during the nightly maintenance window at a random time between 2:00 AM – 6:00 AM, your console will wake up at a time when it can use the most renewable energy in your local energy grid. This decreases fossil fuel dependency and CO2 emissions, and could potentially save you money. While only available to Xbox Insiders that use Shutdown (energy saving) right now, all Xbox gamers will have the chance to update soon so that your Xbox console is carbon aware," said Blaine Hauglie.


Define hypocritical
Microsoft is painting a pretty picture but consoles continue to be very energy inefficient while every new console generation is seemingly pushing maximum energy consumption higher. PS5 and Xbox Series X can both consume over 200W during gameplay. 

These are choices, and both console makers have chosen not to include a dedicated low-power chip for stand-by, menus, video playback, video disc playback, game streaming, and everything else not related to local gaming.

- "We have repeatedly urged Sony and Microsoft to include a dedicated low-power chip for video playback in their consoles, and this request is even more important today given the potential for long hours of “binge watching” via the console," Noah Horowitz, Director of NRDC, said last year.

The time to act was when designing the new consoles. Meanwhile, Apple TV 4K (2022) is approaching last-gen Xbox One and PS4 consoles in GPU muscles while consuming 6W or less for games that exceed 120W on Xbox Series X. Apple TV 4K (2022) consumes less than 2.5W during 4K HDR streaming from, for example, Netflix compared to over 45W on Xbox Series X and over 70W on PS5.

 Also read: Why you shouldn't use PlayStation or Xbox for video streaming


Active hours
Microsoft has not committed to improving its hardware design in future consoles, but says that it will do more in terms of software in case you really want to continue to use the 'instant on' (Sleep) mode.

- "Another energy setting update that will start to roll out to Xbox Insiders today is the new “Active hours” setting. For those that select the Sleep power option, you can now adjust your console’s active hours. Your Xbox will boot quickly and will be available for remote wake during your selected active hours. When your Xbox’s active hours are done for the day, it will fully shut down and will draw 0.5 W vs. 10-15 W while active," said Blaine Hauglie.

Active hours – Xbox
In Microsoft's own words:

Xbox Series X|S active hours will be automatically enabled and scheduled based on times when the console was previously used
Xbox One consoles will have the option to configure their active hours, which will default to “always active” unless changed


 The new active hours menu on Xbox. Picture: Microsoft
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