Windows 11’s new “better performance” toggle shows up, but your current PC will never be able to use it

Key Points:

• Windows 11 preview build 29695 introduced a new toggle called "Advanced Performance Extensions" (APX), which on supported hardware could enhance PC performance by allowing Windows to utilize additional CPU registers.
• APX, developed by Intel, doubles the number of general-purpose registers in the CPU from 16 to 32, potentially reducing processor workload by lowering the number of loads, stores, and instructions required, though actual performance gains may vary and require developer app recompilation.
• Currently, APX support is limited to upcoming Intel CPU families like Nova Lake and Diamond Rapids, with no support for existing Intel Alder Lake, Raptor Lake, or earlier CPUs; AMD may collaborate on APX in the future but no specific Ryzen support is confirmed yet.
• Existing Windows 11 PCs can still benefit from the Low Latency Profile feature, which improves app launch speeds without requiring APX hardware support, and Microsoft plans to expand this feature to cover more OS functions.
• Microsoft has not announced when APX will roll out to production builds, and while it could encourage users to upgrade hardware ahead of Windows 10's end of support in 2027, performance improvements depend on both hardware and software adoption.