Yes, these are often ROM devices, with external EEPROM for settings. This means you cannot change the firmware, so if it doesn't have Apt-X enabled in the firmware, you can't use it.
If however, the module has >4MB flash instead of the EEPROM, then it might be possible to change the firmware, but as you found out the Apt-X is licensed, and so requires a key to use it in the IDE.