Yeah, they're aiming at fixing more with the next bigger patch, which I think you were reading about. Also fixing the sector-auto management AI, include auto-migration between planets, etc.
And yeah I agree, the 2.2 patch was kind of a one step forward, two steps back -case. Most of the problems in the current game stem from it.
I personally only get end game lag when I try something ridiculous, like beating the 25x end game crisis on Huge galaxy, so I'm making fleets worth of 10M fleet power... If you play on smaller galaxies, don't go for ridiculous end-games, and/or have a good comp, the end-game lag should be about non-existent.