Xbox One Lifespan: 10 Years Always Switched On

With three months to go until the Xbox One is officially out, Microsoft apparently still have some aces up their sleeve, in their efforts to ensure supremacy for their new console over its biggest rival, the PlayStation 4 from Sony.

New reports suggest the Xbox One lifespan was designed to be an impressive 10 years with the console always on. We’re not sure why anybody would want to keep their consoles on all the time, but it’s nice to know the new Xbox will be able to operate continuously for a decade.

A Eurogamer report cited inside Microsoft sources as saying that the entire design of the console was based on this idea. The immediate consequence of this plan was to find the appropriate heat dissipation technology and this was found in the form of a 24x26x8 centimeter cooling unit that is virtually silent.

According to the same sources, the fan noise would only be noticeable while playing games and the processor would require extra heating power. During less demanding activities such as surfing the Internet or watching a movie, the fans would be practically inaudible.

Besides the 10-year always on Xbox lifespan, Microsoft also announced a boost in the console’s GPU. Mike Whitten, Xbox One chief product officer, explained that the clock speed on the GPU has been increased from 800 MHz to 853 MHz, this being one of the last minute tweaks that the company is doing before launching the product.

Whitten added that the console’s graphics driver has also been changed since the platform was revealed at the E3 in June. The system now works with a “mono driver” especially designed and 100% optimized for the Xbox One, he said.

The Xbox One is scheduled to launch in November and will retail for $499, but Sony’s PS4 is still believed to have the edge, primarily because of its $100 lower price tag, but also because it never required a constant Internet connection or imposed any restrictions on used games.

According to Microsoft, one of the main reasons for keeping the Xbox One always switched on is that this will significantly reduce game load times. But the feature is likely to stir up fresh controversy and privacy concerns, especially in the wake of the NSA surveillance scandal. What do you think? Will you or would you keep your Xbox One always on?

[Image via ExtremeTech]