Windows Latest reported that Windows 11 Insider Build 29695, released to Insiders on October 23, 2026, included an Advanced Performance Extensions (APX) toggle. The setting is a Windows-side control for an instruction-set extension; using APX also requires a compatible processor and software enabled to use it. Intel’s percentage figures describe a prototype code simulation, not measured Windows or app speedups.
What the Windows 11 preview setting shows
In a report published October 26, 2026, El Chapuzas Informático said leaked images placed the toggle under “For developers” and showed a restart prompt after activation. The outlet cited a post by XenoPanther as the source of the images.
What APX changes in a processor
Intel APX expands the x86 instruction set and doubles the number of general-purpose registers from 16 to 32. Registers are small storage locations inside a processor that hold values code is actively using. With more registers available, compiled code can keep more values there rather than loading them from or storing them to memory.
What Intel’s percentages measure
Intel reports that a prototype simulation of the SPEC CPU 2017 Integer benchmark suite produced APX-compiled code with 10% fewer loads and more than 20% fewer stores than an Intel 64 baseline. Intel also reports 10% fewer instructions in the simulated code. These are changes in operation and instruction counts, not equivalent increases in Windows or application speed.
What APX requires from hardware and software
A Windows setting cannot add APX support to a processor that lacks it. Windows Latest identified Intel Nova Lake as a consumer processor family expected to support APX. Using the extension also depends on software support: Intel says application developers can enable APX through recompilation, with source-code changes not expected. For dynamic-language workloads, the underlying runtime must be enabled for APX as well.
