Earlier quoted context omitted.
Even if they take the same number of ticks, shouldn't xor fundamentally needing less work also mean it can be performed while drawing less power/heating less, which is just as much an improvement in the long run?
That wasn’t much of a concern in the 70s and 80s.
Also, you probably spend much more energy moving the bits around the chip and out to RAM than you do on the actual calculation.