Microsoft is switching gears with its update model for 2026 and is offering a first-half-of-the-year update for Windows 11 for the first time since 2021. The trillion-dollar software giant confirmed in a Windows IT Pro blog post that the newly-released Windows 11 26H1 update is designed to only support devices featuring "new silicon". Devices running Qualcomm's new Snapdragon X2 ARM SoCs are the only devices that support 26H1 for the time being.
Windows 11 26H1 isn't any ordinary update; Microsoft also revealed that 26H1 runs on a different (newer) codebase than Windows 11 25H2, codenamed Bromine. Because of this code disparity, devices running 26H1 will be stuck on that version for the foreseeable future and won't be able to upgrade to Windows 11 26H2 when it debuts later this year. However, Microsoft did confirm that 26H1 devices will have "a path to update in a future Windows release," confirming that the existing germanium builds of Windows (24H2/25H2) will likely be updated to Bromine, probably next year. Microsoft already ruled out swapping to Bromine for 26H2.
26H1's release is very similar to Windows 11 24H2, as both were and are launched to support bleeding-edge ARM devices before the mainstream Windows codebase could catch up. Windows 11 24H2 was launched in June of 2024 and strictly only worked on ARM-exclusive Copilot+ PCs until October, when Microsoft finally released the update to all systems. 26H1 is different, however, in that it appears to be strictly aimed at supporting next-generation hardware and doesn't have any noteworthy features (if any features) over 25H2.
This is also the first time Microsoft has released a "major" Windows update since Windows 10 21H1 in 2021. 26H1 and 21H1 have their own similarities in that 21H1 was also a minor update that only brought a handful of updates to Windows 10.
It will be interesting to see if Microsoft will continue to split its development branches in the future strictly to stay on top of future hardware support. This is the second time Microsoft has been apparently forced to provide dedicated Windows 11 builds for specific hardware. For now, Snapdragon X2 is the only SoC that supports (and requires) 26H1, but Microsoft's wording suggests there will be more hardware soon that will need 26H1's codebase to run. Leaks, rumors, and educated guesses claim that Nvidia's upcoming N1X chip will also be strictly supported through 26H1.
For now, though, what is important to know is that Windows 11 26H1 is a device-specific update, so you won't have to worry about upgrading to it. If you already have a device that needs 26H1, it will have 26H1 out of the box. If you're on Windows 11 25H2, 24H2, or any older update, you can skip 26H1 and focus on 26H2, which will be Microsoft's "actual" feature update geared towards all mainstream Windows devices coming out in the second half of this year.
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