X-Plane 12.4.4 Beta Updated with Performance, Avionics and SDK Fixes

Laminar Research has released another beta build for X-Plane 12.4.4, continuing to refine what the developer has dubbed its “SDK Update.” The latest build, released on September 28th, isn’t quite as feature-heavy as the initial 12.4.4 beta, but there are a number of potentially useful improvements and fixes.

Performance continues to get some attention, with Laminar addressing a stutter caused by X-Plane’s memory defragmenter. On macOS, asynchronous compute has also been disabled in an effort to reduce stutters and improve frame pacing. A crash affecting certain AMD GPUs when running Linux has also been fixed.

There are a handful of avionics improvements too. The G1000’s NEXRAD inset map has been changed to better resemble the real-world display, whilst the ADF can now cycle through STBY, ANT, ADF and BFO modes on suitably equipped aircraft. GNS 430 and 530 users will similarly see a more authentic pixelated NEXRAD display.

Weather radar has received another small tweak, with clouds directly in the aircraft’s path now appearing solid rather than hatched.

Elsewhere, Laminar has fixed an issue that could result in a loss of power when rapidly reducing propeller RPM on PT-6-powered turboprops, along with several issues affecting XLua 2.0 and the SDK introduced with the original 12.4.4 beta.

This latest build follows the much larger initial release of 12.4.4 earlier in September. That update introduced the new Panel Graphics API, XLua 2.0, persistent and regional snow coverage, graphics and VRAM improvements, an on-disk texture cache, improved weather radar and a new enhanced rendition of Farnborough Airport (EGLF).

X-Plane 12.4.4 remains in beta, and Laminar Research continues to warn users that visual errors, instability and crashes are possible.

The latest beta is available now through the X-Plane installer for those opted into beta releases.