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I've got an Xbox One that hasn't been updated in 10 years. Is there any reason that I should refrain from updating it?

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    What an eccentric question :) Is there some reason you don't want to update it? I'm not sure about consoles, but I'm guessing that (like with other systems) updates include safety patches and hardware drivers.
    – Joachim
    Commented Sep 3 at 19:04
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    @Joachim Not exactly related to the OP's question, but as a follow-up your question, reasons to not want to update could be like this question
    – Wondercricket
    Commented Sep 3 at 19:16
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    @Wondercricket Good point! Mind that I don't dislike eccentric questions at all, but that would indeed be a very good reason not to update.
    – Joachim
    Commented Sep 3 at 19:26

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While not specific to the Xbox One, here are a number of reasons for why you should (or shouldn't) update your console.

You should install updates because they can

  • Improve the security of your console, preventing other people from taking over ownership, assuming the console is properly configured. E.g. preventing a child from bypassing parental controls, etc.

  • Improve system stability, removing bugs and avoiding crashes, corruption, or even physical damage in extreme cases. In one example, early PS3 models believed 2010 to be a leap year which prevented players from accessing the PlayStation Network or their games on March 1.

  • Improve performance by improving efficiency of certain systems. Examples include improving efficiency of the network stack and OS to allow downloads while playing games, reducing the RAM requirements of the OS, allowing for more apps to be used while a game is still running in the background.

  • Add new features that may improve your experience with the console. Some of these features may be required by certain games. Physical copies of games may include system software updates that will ensure the console is updated to the minimum version required for the game to run, making the update unavoidable in this case. For example, the Xbox 360 received an update allowing it to copy game discs to its HDD. This feature is required to play GTA 5.

  • Allow continued access to certain online features, such as the online shop. These services may have updated their API, so the console must be updated to continue using them. Some services may also have their certificates renewed, meaning the console needs to recognize those new certificates.

You should avoid updates because they can

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  • Thanks, yea that bottom list is exactly what I had in mind. At a cursory glance it doesn't look like anything like that exists for the Xbox One. edit: At least anything that is dependent on the particular update version.
    – Fredrick
    Commented Sep 6 at 21:12

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