I wanted to let you know that later today a required Xbox One system update will become available. This update works a little bit differently than what fans are used to on Xbox 360. Here’s what you can expect:

A. If you are using the Xbox One “Instant On” (the low power state that allows you to instantly power up your console by saying “Xbox On”), your console automatically checks for updates when you turn it off. Once we make the update available (on Tuesday, December 10th, 5:00 PM PT) this means the following will happen:

Your console will automatically download the update after you turn it off. Once the update has been downloaded in the background, your console will power completely down. Please note: You will need to manually power your console back on after the update has been downloaded. Because the update will power your console completely down, the “Xbox On” voice command won’t be available until after the update is fully installed.

When you turn the console on you’ll see the update being applied. After that, your Xbox One will reboot. You’ll know the update is installing when you see the Xbox logo on the green background (like at the top of this post.) This can take anywhere from 2-5 minutes. Once the update has finished installing, you’ll boot to the Home screen and you’re all set.

Don’t worry, if you are out of town for the holidays, you console also does regular checks for updates and will download it in the background even if you have not used you Xbox One in a couple of days.

B. If you are not using the Xbox One “Instant On” feature, you will be required to download and apply this update after Thursday, December 12th at 2:00 AM PT.

This update addresses the following:

Addresses SmartGlass issues for some users when coming in and out of connected standby

Addresses multiplayer issues for some users when re-joining games

Addresses issues with inconsistent notifications for some users

Addresses dashboard performance for some users

Offers improvements for Xbox One’s TV, system update, and content update services for scaling over time

Updated wireless networking driver to improve connectivity issues for some users

We’ve got quite a few updates planned for the next year based on the community feedback we’ve been seeing, and I’ll have details on those in the future.

Thanks and I’ll see you online.

Update: Here is the official support document if you have questions that are not answered here.