Xbox Insiders are finding that their consoles’ boot times have improved dramatically in the latest version of the program.
The Insider Program on Xbox Series X|S gives members the chance to test new features before they are released to the public. And it’s Xbox’s director of integrated marketing, Josh Munsee himself, who revealed that the latest version aims for faster boot times (thanks, the shortcut (opens in new tab)).
Munsee responded to Xbox engineering lead Eden Marie in twitter (opens in new tab), who noticed the improvement on their console. He explains that the secret lies in a shorter boot animation that cuts down to about five seconds in total.
Can confirm – worked with @harrisonhoffman and @jakerose27 to create a shorter boot animation (~4s) than the original boot animation (~9s), helping to reduce overall boot time.July 23, 2022
give the boot
This update may not seem particularly significant at first glance. Especially if (like me) you tend to let your Xbox Series X | S in standby mode instead of turning it off.
I think it’s a very welcome update, though. The boot animation we have now is a little too lavish for its own good, and only really impressive when you turn on the console for the first time.
PS5 and Nintendo Switch boot times are currently much faster in comparison. And this smart Xbox update will help the console close the gap in that regard, if only for a few seconds.
It seems Microsoft has duly noticed that most gamers want to access their Xbox dashboards as soon as possible. And getting to it five seconds faster is a better quality of life upgrade than you might think.
On the one hand, the Xbox’s standby features are great for saving time. Quick Resume, especially, is amazing for picking up a game right where you left off almost instantly. But now knowing that boot times will be reduced, I’m personally more inclined to shut down my console completely after a gaming session.
Is it true that the standby mode on Xbox Series X | S doesn’t consume as much energy as you might think. But the internal components generate some heat when left in standby mode. This can make the console’s overall speed less efficient in the long run if internal components are constantly active.
The boot time update comes as part of an already busy month for Xbox Insiders. It’s right after the Xbox Discord integration, which Insiders are experiencing right now. Fortunately, it won’t be long before Microsoft pushes this and the shorter boot animation to Xbox gamers around the world.