Microsoft is on a quest to make the incredibly fast Xbox Series X even faster. The Xbox Insider team is now rolling out an update for the consoles to slash boot times by another five seconds. If you power your Xbox console on even once a day, this new update will save you up to 30 minutes in a year. This time could be used to play the latest titles in the market or even watch your favorite Netflix shows and YouTube videos.
The firmware update is currently being rolled out for Xbox Insider members only. This means the latest developments in boot times are available in beta and a public rollout is yet to happen. But, Microsoft allows anyone to join their Insider beta program. Thus, you can access the faster boot times regardless.
According to the company, faster boot times are possible thanks to the company’s Direct Storage technology. Microsoft demonstrated the improvements Direct Storage will bring to Xbox consoles and PCs last year. It allows Microsoft’s systems to fully utilize Gen 4 SSDs’potential, thereby allowing them to boot much faster than usual.
When you power your Xbox on after installing these updates, you would notice that the duration of the power-on Xbox logo has dropped significantly. While earlier the logo would stay on for 9 seconds before the update, it only takes 5 seconds these days.
This update also applies to Xbox One consoles. With the new update, the boot times on the last generation of Xbox consoles now take 15 seconds as compared to the 20 seconds it used to take to date. This time includes the period the console takes to transition from the powered-off stage toward the console’s home screen.
These updates are currently available via Microsoft’s beta program, Xbox Insider. Although anyone can get hold of these updates, do keep in mind that they are not completely bug-free and some issues might creep in before the final public release.