HP and Dell disable HEVC support built into their laptops’ CPUs

Laptop owners from Dell and HP are facing unexpected challenges as their devices fail to play HEVC/H.265 content in web browsers, despite the fact that the processors in these laptops possess integrated decoding capabilities. Models equipped with sixth-generation Intel Core processors and newer are designed to support HEVC decoding and encoding, while AMD has included support for this codec in its laptop chips since 2015. However, users of popular business notebooks from Dell and HP have discovered that the companies have disabled this feature. HP has acknowledged this limitation in the data sheets for affected models, which include the HP ProBook 460 G11, ProBook 465 G11, and EliteBook 665 G11. The documentation clearly states, "Hardware acceleration for CODEC H.265/HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding) is disabled on this platform." This revelation has left many users puzzled, especially as modern laptops struggle to load videos in web browsers that play seamlessly in media players. A recent discussion among system administrators on Reddit highlighted the contrast in user experiences, noting that those with older hardware faced no such issues. In contrast, users with newer machines have had to either remove the HEVC codec from the Microsoft Store or disable hardware acceleration in their web browsers, leading to other performance drawbacks, such as the loss of background blurring in video conferencing applications and a significant decrease in system performance. Dell laptop users are also encountering similar difficulties, as the company has similarly disabled HEVC hardware decoding on certain models. Unfortunately, details about these limitations are not readily available. For instance, while the product page for the Dell 16 Plus 2-in-1 lacks any mention of HEVC, the laptop’s online owner’s manual provides no insights in the specifications or warnings sections. The most accessible information is found on a general support page indicating that Dell laptops support HEVC content streaming only under specific configurations. When contacted for clarification, representatives from HP and Dell did not provide an explanation for the decision to disable HEVC hardware decoding on their laptops.