Apparatuses, methods and storage medium associated with virtual machine application processor startup, are disclosed herein. In embodiments, an apparatus for computing may include a plurality of processor cores; and a plurality of OS modules of an OS. The OS modules may include a BSP module and an AP module. The BSP module may be configured to write into a storage area a start state of an AP of a VM, while the VM is being started up; and the AP module may be configured to start the AP at the start state, directly in a protected mode of execution without first going through a real mode of execution. Other embodiments may be described and/or claimed.