On 19th, December 2025, Laminar Research published an announcement on its website marking the launch of the X-Plane 12.4.0 beta just in time for the holidays. X-Plane 12.4.0 is an extensive update featuring a host of aircraft improvements, quality-of-life fixes, scenery updates, and multi-core scenery processing.
12.4.0 brings full, native support for the Tobii Head and Eye tracker to X-Plane 12, which was made possible by a partnership between Laminar Research and Tobii. This allows pilots to adjust controls inside the sim by way of a reworked VR & Head Tracking tab.
X-Plane Native A330-300 Improvements
12.4.0 brings a host of improvements to all areas of the A330-300 included in X-Plane 12. Laminar Research refers to the update as “deep maintenance” for the A330, touching nearly every system.
The electrical system has been completely re-engineered with feedback from real-world A330 pilots to make the cold and dark startup procedure more authentic. All proper buses for the A330 are now modelled along with an Electrical Contactor Manager Unit. AC/DC ECAM pages have been revised and now accurately depict system status.
All cockpit systems now draw power from their appropriate buses, meaning annunciators and displays behave realistically based on available power. Even the IFE draws an electrical load, while the FADEC only draws power when turned on while engines are off. The yellow hydraulic pump has its own power requirements properly modeled and can be powered without pilot input by plugging in the GPU.
Cold and Dark power up has been revised, and Laminar Research claims it’s authentic to the real-world aircraft. All overhead panel switches and controls are now set appropriately when the A330 is loaded in a cold and dark state. Auto modes for generators and other equipment are now included and function just like the real A330, while screens respond properly to different power states.
The A330’s MCDU received extensive improvements in 12.4.0. ALTN flight plan functionality is now available on all pages. The FMGC also received an extensive upgrade and now takes time constraints into account. It is now possible to assign RTA (required time of arrival) constraints to waypoints.
For oceanic crossings, ETP functionality (equi-time point) has been added, along with constant mach segment functionality. The FMGC now understands time-marker waypoints, allowing pilots to enter a UTC time and paste it into the flight plan for a visual indicator in the ND.
The A330’s FIX INFO page now accepts runway designators directly, and FIX INFO color coding is improved. OFFSET functionality now works with optional entry and exit waypoints, allowing pilots to designate a left or right offset to all (or a segment) of the flight plan.
LL XING/INCR/NO has been added to the lateral revision to enable pilots to make oceanic reporting points that are not part of the flight plan.
The A330 now features a functional third CDU designed specifically for AOC operations. ACARS support via the third MCDU allows pilots to request weather, ATIS, and pre-departure clearance when flying on VATSIM, PilotEdge, or the default ATC system. VATSIM and PilotEdge support is achieved via the Hoppie network.
The ADIRS (Air Data Inertial Reference System) now features a realistic alignment process that follows the real-world A330’s behavior. The initialization will take longer at higher latitudes, and more information will be available on the PFD and ND as the initialization is completed. The alignment process is fully integrated with the electrical system and displays, and flight director functionality is restricted until the alignment is complete.
The A330’s flight model and autopilot received many refinements focused on realistic behavior. Turn anticipation has been improved, resulting in smoother navigation and more accurate tracking. Glideslope dropouts have been eliminated, meaning the system now reliably captures and tracks the ILS throughout the approach.
Speed management is now more accurate, with VLS (lowest selectable speed) correctly increasing in two steps following flap and slat retraction after takeoff. The auto brake system can now be disengaged by applying just 5% more pressure than the current auto brake setting, meaning smoother braking control when needed.
Several edge cases have also been fixed, allowing the A330 to behave more predictably and authentically.
The A330’s Emergency Systems also received updates in 12.4.0. A functional RAT (Ram Air Turbine) and emergency generator system is now included. The ELT is now fully functional with realistic FMOD sounds and event timings, and it behaves as it would in the real aircraft during emergency situations.
Cockpit Displays in the A330 now feature realistic power-up times, TERR ON ND behavior has been improved, and display availability is now contingent on power state. System failures and power configurations now affect what you can see in the cockpit. ECAM pages swap appropriately with different display states, and ECP buttons have been updated to work correctly in single ECAM situations.
X-Plane 12.4.0 Avionics Improvements
The X430 and X530 now include a comprehensive traffic page, terrain awareness page, a NEXRAD weather page, a frequencies page, and a dedicated position page specific to the X430.
GPS reliability information is now available through a new Satellites page that shows GPS status and WAAS capability. Maps on both GPS units now display bodies of water. A fully functional self-test page now allows pilots to verify the connection between the GPS and CDI/HSI or fuel totalizers.
The X1000 received extensive updates in 12.4.0. Several critical issues including synthetic vision airfield drawing errors, terrain display problems, and a crash when drawing runway strips have all been fixed. A vertical profile view has been added, obstacles are now displayed within the coverage range of the FAA digital obstacle file, and the MFD now takes winds into account for ground track and fuel range.
New features include enhanced trip planning capabilities, sunset/sunrise time calculations, fuel efficiency calculations, density altitude calculations, and a new utility page to track flying data.
System customization has been greatly enhanced via the setup options, allowing pilots to select temperature units, time displays, fuel units, and more. ENGINE LEAN/SYSTEM softkeys now display the proper pages, making engine management more intuitive for the C172, SR-22, and RV-10.
The SR-22 received improvements to avionics and flight management in 12.4.0. A GCU error that occurred in pop-out mode has been fixed. Avionics now display current climb gradient data, a new one-minute trend vector, and wind vector data in the MFD. Autopilot behavior on takeoff has been improved, and the GFC-700 now supports HDG ARM for departure.
Scenery Improvements
12.4.0 features a new custom airport- LEBB Bilbao Airport. The striking main terminal, opened in 2000, has been faithfully recreated by the team along with the rest of the field.
A host of new scenery library assets are now available. These include a segmented circle, signal square, static glider models, animated cranes, VHF dipole antenna towers, RVs and camping equipment, more car variations, new pavements, speed bumps, and ground speed limit markings.
Quality of Life Improvements
Virtual reality pilots now have properly working aviation and general flashlights. SteamVR controller detection has been improved, and logging during the detection process has been reduced to free up system overhead.
Performance when using SteamVR has been improved to help maintain smooth frame rates in the headset. New commands allow pilots to toggle the visibility of the VR xPad more easily as well.
A new VR-specific graphics settings option allows pilots to optimize graphics independently for VR and desktop use.
FXAA anti-aliasing has been removed from cockpit display processing entirely. In previous versions of X-Plane, it resulted in blurriness on digital displays and instruments. Now, pilots can take advantage of FXAA for smoother edges throughout the sim, making it a much more viable anti-aliasing option.
ATC received practical improvements focused on enhancing realism and usability. Transmitter ranges for ATIS and tower radios have been improved. A new automatic check-in option allows smooth progress during longer unattended flights. All “fly-heading” instructions now take into account wind corrections, altitude callouts during flight-following with STAR procedures have been improved, and all ATC text dialogs now include their spoken equivalents.
in partnership with Desktop Piot, dedicated joystick profiles for the hardware manufacturer’s lineup are now natively included in X-Plane 12 as part of the update.
Multi-Core Scenery Processing
Users with modern multi-core CPUS will likely see performance improvements as scenery processing now uses multi-core technology in X-Plane 12.4.0
In GPU-limited systems, users may not notice a dramatic change. Internal testing revealed encouraging results, especially in smoothing out performance in particularly demanding scenarios. However, results will vary from system to system according to Laminar Research.
The X-Plane 12.4.0 Public Beta is now available. To read the full announcement on the X-Plane website, click here.
