Windows 11 feature spotted in testing promises another speed boost for the operating system, but you’ll need to buy a new laptop to get this one
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- A new Windows 11 feature is being tested, but it doesn’t work yet
- It is an option to enable Intel’s ‘Advanced Performance Extensions’ or APX to increase the performance of some applications.
- This will benefit Intel’s next-generation CPUs, and AMD processors will eventually be in line for this speed increase as well.
There’s a new Windows 11 feature to improve app performance that has been spotted in testing, but only PCs with Intel’s next-generation desktop CPUs (codenamed Nova Lake) will benefit from this initially.
Windows Latest noticed that a regular Windows 11 watcher, XenoPanther on
Intel explains that APX “expands the entire x86 instruction set with access to more registers and adds new features that improve general-purpose performance.”
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This means that application developers can take advantage of this feature to speed up the performance of their software. The boost a given app could get will, as always, be variable, but some apps may end up with a nice performance boost (gaming probably won’t see much benefit, in case you were wondering).
There are a couple of drawbacks here, however, including that applications will have to be recompiled to take advantage of APX, although Intel notes that no actual changes to the application code are expected to be necessary.
It’s worth noting that Linux already added support for APX some time ago.
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Right now, this APX switch is present in test builds of Windows 11, but it doesn’t do anything at all, which isn’t surprising given that there are no Intel CPUs that support this feature yet. What this shows is that Microsoft is laying the groundwork for this capability, which will be supported by Intel’s next generation of desktop silicon. These Intel Core Ultra Series 4 processors are expected to debut in early 2027, so they still have a long way to go.
Existing generations of silicon from the Intel Core Series 3 and earlier families will never get the benefit of APX, as it is something that must be integrated into the chip during production. So existing PCs won’t get speed boosts from this feature, which is a shame.
In theory, this could be an additional reason to upgrade your CPU, but there is another drawback: Intel Core Series 4 CPUs require a new processor socket and therefore a new motherboard for your PC. That means an extensive upgrade for a desktop PC, or impossible for laptop owners, which means both Intel and Microsoft could hope APX is another way to shift some new laptops in tough conditions when the market is down.
How about AMD processors? This is an Intel technology, as noted, so you might assume you can forget about seeing APX with a Ryzen CPU, but actually, as Windows Latest points out, Team Red is collaborating with Team Blue to take advantage of this feature.
With AMD involved, developers are more likely to use the feature, and that will help Intel make the case for its usefulness. However, again, support needs to be built into the chip, so the earliest this could happen on the Ryzen side would be the Zen 6 family, or possibly the next generation (rumors seem to favor the latter). In any case, support for AMD chips will also arrive.
Meanwhile, some online commentators remain skeptical. One Redditor notes this potential speed boost: “I’ll believe it when I see it!”
Others are unhappy with the support here and the need for an update, complaining: “Imagine locking a performance increase behind a platform…”
But as noted, this is a feature that requires new hardware on the chip itself, not something that can be added to finished silicon.
When it comes to Windows 11 itself in general, Microsoft is busy working to improve performance in all sorts of ways, including applying a couple of new tricks to speed up app and menu launch times. There is also an important goal to ensure that Windows 11 runs better with 8GB of RAM.
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