Starting today, the Xbox February 2023 update with the new carbon-aware Shutdown power setting will be coming to all Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One consoles. This new energy-saving mode, which rolled out to Xbox Insiders in January, will allow users to reduce the amount of electricity the consoles consume while still plugged in. Some politicians like Ted Cruz, however, have criticized this update for fighting climate change in the name of woke politics.
Xbox says Shutdown mode cuts power consumption by up to 20x
With this update, Xbox has dubbed the Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One as the first consoles to “offer carbon aware game downloads and updates” in a recent blog on Xbox Wire. If your console is plugged in and connected to the internet, it will now download console updates and patches most likely at night when it won’t have as much impact on the electric grid.
Additionally, Xbox claims that the new Shutdown energy saving mode will cut power use by up to 20x when compared to the original Sleep power option. The downside to the new option, though, is that it will take longer to boot your console.
It’s unclear whether this update will automatically switch Xbox consoles to the Shutdown option. But in case you would like to keep them on the original Sleep power saving option, you can switch back to it after the update is finished.
The Xbox February 2023 update also allows users to use a solid background that will hide game art while navigating their Home screen and to use the Google Home app as a touch remote control for the console.
