So I saw a comment once which suggested all intel cpu's are the same and they just disable certain features before its sold.

So this article would make sense when thinking about the above comment, only instead of features being factory fused or disabled, they become a payable option which might be a one time fee or an option which can be switched on for a period of time.

From a recycling point of view, it would make sense, people dont have to throw away a computer or shelve it when they want to upgrade, but I cant help but think what about the realisation over time people may come to if this instruction set on/off service/rental/purchase becomes an option? Would that then harm intel or not if it became known that and would that spawn some new hacking interest in microcode or whatever it is that controls the enabling of different instruction sets?