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Windows 11 preview build adds an APX toggle for future Intel CPUs, with AMD support set to follow later

A dormant APX toggle has appeared in Windows 11 preview build 29695. The performance feature requires Intel's Nova Lake CPUs, expected in early 2027, and later AMD chips.

AI News Feed · 2026-10-26 21:10

The option appeared in preview build 29695. Windows Latest spotted it and cited a screenshot posted on X by the Windows 11 watcher XenoPanther. No Intel processor supports APX yet, so the switch has nothing to act on.

Intel describes APX as an expansion of the x86 instruction set that gives access to more registers and adds features intended to improve general-purpose performance. Applications will need to be recompiled to take advantage of it, although Intel says developers are not expected to have to change their code. How much any given program gains will vary, and games are unlikely to see much benefit. Linux added support for APX some time ago, according to the report.

The hardware requirement limits how far the feature can reach. APX has to be built into the chip at production, so Intel Core Series 3 processors and earlier will never support it. The first chips to carry it will be Intel's next-generation desktop CPUs, codenamed Nova Lake and sold as Core Ultra Series 4, which are expected to appear early in 2027. Those processors also require a new socket, meaning desktop owners would need a new motherboard as well, while laptop buyers would have to replace the whole machine.

AMD processors are also in line for support. Although APX is an Intel technology, Windows Latest reported that AMD is working with Intel on it. Because support must be designed into the silicon, the earliest it could arrive on a Ryzen chip would be the Zen 6 generation, with rumors pointing more strongly to the generation after that.

Reaction online was mixed. One Reddit commenter wrote of the promised speed boost: "I'll believe it when I see it!" Another objected to tying the feature to new hardware: "Imagine locking a performance boost behind a platform..." TechRadar noted that the capability cannot be added to finished silicon.

Separately, Microsoft is working on other performance improvements in Windows 11, including changes intended to speed up the launch of apps and menus and efforts to make the operating system run better on 8GB of RAM.