Windows 11’s latest Insider build adds a toggle called Advanced Performance Extensions, or APX, and Microsoft says letting Windows use it gives your PC “better performance”. The catch is the hardware. As Windows Latest reports, the setting appeared in Build 29695, released to Windows Insiders on 23 October, and it depends on CPU features that no current PC has.
That makes APX less a free speed boost than a possible reason to upgrade. Windows Latest argues Microsoft now has another argument for Windows 10 holdouts, with extended support ending in 2027 according to the outlet, after Copilot+ PCs with NPUs did little to move them. Nobody knows yet when the toggle will reach production Windows 11, and for consumer PCs, Intel’s upcoming Nova Lake family is the one to watch.
What APX does
APX is an extension to Intel’s x86 instruction set that Intel introduced in 2023. It centres on registers, the small, very fast storage locations inside a processor that hold the values a running program needs. The more values a CPU can keep there, the less it shuffles data to and from memory.
x86 originally defined eight 16-bit general-purpose registers, and the 64-bit era raised that to 16 registers, each 64 bits wide. In a technical document updated in October 2024, Intel said APX “doubles the number of general-purpose registers (GPRs) from 16 to 32,” which lets the compiler keep more values in registers. The company also said the extensions deliver “efficient performance gains across a variety of workloads without significantly increasing the silicon area or power consumption of the core.”
The pitch matters because Intel has been trying to improve performance without a matching jump in power draw, and Qualcomm’s Arm chips have raised expectations for battery life. APX is another attempt at that balance, on the instruction-set side rather than through a new manufacturing node.
What it could mean for apps
Intel says code compiled with APX contains 10% fewer loads and more than 20% fewer stores than the same code compiled for an Intel 64 baseline. It also reports about 10% fewer instructions, which could help developers compile their apps faster. Those numbers come from a prototype, so they aren’t final, and they don’t mean Windows 11 will run 10% or 20% faster. Microsoft hasn’t published benchmark results for the toggle.
Intel also says the new instructions let software avoid more hard-to-predict branches. When a CPU guesses the wrong path through a program, it spends time recovering and holds up other work, so cutting those mistakes could help apps where they happen often.
Flipping the switch won’t speed up every existing app either. Intel says developers may need to update their software to use APX, through “simple recompilation,” and doesn’t expect source code changes to be needed. In practice, the benefit depends on developers rebuilding their apps, on top of owning a supported chip.
Which CPUs support it
Windows Latest understands that Nova Lake will support APX, and Intel’s compiler documentation confirms it for Diamond Rapids, a Xeon server family. The outlet lists the Intel families that don’t support it:
| CPU family | APX status | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Nova Lake | Listed in GCC processor documentation; Windows Latest understands it will support APX | Upcoming consumer family expected to benefit once Windows and software support are ready |
| Diamond Rapids | Documented by Intel | A Xeon server family, not an upgrade path for a Windows laptop |
| Alder Lake, Raptor Lake, Meteor Lake, Lunar Lake, Arrow Lake, Panther Lake | Not supported | A Windows update can’t add the missing CPU capability |
AMD could follow. AMD’s Robert Hormuth has discussed APX as part of the company’s collaboration with Intel, but that doesn’t confirm a Ryzen model or make an existing Ryzen PC compatible. If you bought a laptop recently, such as one of the newer chips in Intel’s Core Series 3 range, APX isn’t something you can expect to unlock later.
Existing PCs still get faster
Microsoft is working on speed for current hardware too. Low Latency Profile is enabled by default and gives the CPU a brief boost when you open apps or OS features. It first covered the Start menu, Search, Notification Center and Quick Settings, and Microsoft expanded it to app launches with the August 2026 update.
In Windows Latest’s tests on an existing Raptor Lake PC, Chrome, Calculator and the WebView2-based Weather app opened faster after that update. The outlet says the difference was easier to notice on older or lower-end PCs in its earlier tests. It also understands Microsoft plans to extend the profile to file launches and OS settings, and expects to learn more about Microsoft’s plans early next year.
That fits a wider push to make Windows feel lighter. Microsoft has also been trimming web content from the OS, and you can already disable Bing in Windows 11 Search, while it has promised a fix for Windows 11’s 8GB RAM problem. APX would be the first of these improvements tied to a hardware generation.
Can I turn on APX on my current Windows 11 PC?
No. APX needs CPU-level support, and Windows Latest says Intel’s Alder Lake, Raptor Lake, Meteor Lake, Lunar Lake, Arrow Lake and Panther Lake families don’t have it. A Windows update can’t add that capability.
Will APX make Windows 11 10% or 20% faster?
Not on current evidence. Intel’s figures of 10% fewer loads and more than 20% fewer stores describe compiled code from a prototype, and Microsoft hasn’t published benchmarks for the toggle. Apps may also need recompiling to use APX.
What can older PCs use for faster performance instead?
Low Latency Profile. It’s on by default, needs no new instruction set, and Microsoft extended it to app launches with the August 2026 update.
