As part of its announced environmental efforts, Microsoft has added a handy new feature to power saving mode.
Some may never have used it consciously since it’s a fairly inconspicuous option, but Xbox consoles have had an “Energy Saver” mode for a long time. And it now allows you to download games in the background, and without having to leave the console in standby mode.
“Now game and system updates can be downloaded in power saving mode”, explains Dave McCarthy, vice president of operations at Xbox.
Now, this power saving mode has become the default operating mode when a user boots up a brand new Xbox for the first time.
According to The Verge, this also means that the console should restart and come out of idle more slowly. But this same source also specifies that this potentially significant difference on older generations has now almost disappeared. The latest models are indeed fast enough to make use of this mode without sacrificing the responsiveness of the machine.
The green team wants to become even more so
This approach is part of a larger-scale ecological approach. Indeed, the firm intends to make its console a champion of green gaming; a color that actually fits her like a glove. It remains to sort out the arguments that fall under greenwashing pure and simple and those that could have a significant impact.
For example, incorporating 28% recycled plastic is unlikely to make a huge difference, although the intention is obviously still laudable.
More surprisingly, we also learn that Microsoft has integrated a consumption monitoring chip on “a small number of consoles” chosen at random. The goal: collect anonymous data to identify ways to improve energy consumption. “It is a key element” in the brand strategy, says the statement from Xbox (available here).
It is these kinds of tracking systems that have allowed the energy saving mode to reach a consumption “about 20x lower” to that of standby mode, says the brand. Eventually, the brand even hopes to achieve carbon neutrality; it has given itself until 2030 to achieve these goals. It will be interesting to see to what extent their efforts in the console segment help them achieve this very ambitious goal.