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Report: Xbox’s “instant on” feature could consume 4 billion kWh by 2025 - Ars Technica

Report: Xbox’s “instant on” feature could consume 4 billion kWh by 2025 - Ars Technica

Jan 15, 2021 1 min, 40 secs

[Update (8:45 ET): A Microsoft spokesperson provided Ars with the following statement: Users are given a choice during setup between the two power modes for the console: energy saving and instant on.

The "instant on" feature on new Xbox Series S/X consoles could suck up a total of 4 billion kWh—the equivalent of a year's operation for a large power plant—from US owners alone through 2025.

But leaving the "instant on" feature active means the Xbox Series S/X draws nine to 10 watts of power 24 hours a day—even when it's not being actively used—compared to less than 1W if the standby settings are switched to "energy saving" mode.

[Update: A Microsoft spokesperson clarifies that "if the console is in energy saving mode with automatic updates enabled, the console will wake, check for updates and download them during the maintenance window (if available), shutting down again after the download completes.

If the console is in energy saving mode but the user has opted for automatic updates to be disabled, the console will only check for or download updates when the user manually does so from My Games & Apps."].

The Xbox Series S/X initially drew 25 to 28W of "instant on" standby power at launch, but a recent firmware update caused a dramatic reduction, placing the new systems below the ~13W drawn by the Xbox One's "instant on" mode.

For a single console, that 9W of additional "instant on" power draw can add up to about 78 kWh in a year, or roughly $10.60 in energy costs for an average US home (going by the October 2020 EIA average of 13.6 cents/kWh).

With all that factored in, Microsoft's decision to have "instant on" as the default power mode adds up to 4 billion kWh of additional energy consumption over the next five years.

The NRDC is urging Microsoft to change the system's default settings to "energy saving" mode right out of the box worldwide (this is already the case in Europe, thanks to the region's energy efficiency directive).

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