With the release of Qt 6.8.1 and 6.5.8, we are updating our documentation to clarify Qt’s support for newly released Apple operating system versions.
Background
The release cadence of Qt and Apple operating systems generally aligns quite well, with Qt’s minor release each autumn coinciding with the annual macOS and iOS major version updates.
As Apple announces new operating system versions in June during WWDC, we initiate testing of Qt on the new versions, primarily focusing on Qt’s development branch and upcoming minor version.
Once Qt is deemed stable and tested on the new operating systems, we explicitly document its support for the forthcoming Qt minor version.
We then move our focus to testing existing Qt versions on the new operating systems, updating the documentation accordingly.
What's changing?
Due to time constraints and priorities, the testing and updating of the documentation for older Qt releases can be a slow process, potentially delaying the official support for a new Apple operating system release.
However, in practice Qt applications generally perform well on new operating system releases, in large part thanks to Apple’s commitment to forward compatibility for new operating system versions.
We are now updating our documentation to reflect this reality, eliminating the need to explicitly update the documentation for older Qt releases with each cycle of OS releases from Apple.
Issues that may arise on new operating systems will be prioritized and scheduled in accordance with the existing Qt branching and support policies. For instance, a crash or critical bug on a new operating system version is more likely to receive a fix in an older Qt release than a lower priority issue. Support for features introduced in new operating system versions is typically only included in new Qt minor versions.
What is not changing?
Each Qt minor version retains a predetermined lower bound for its supported operating system version (the deployment target), and this policy will not be modified.
The lower bound is established to ensure compatibility with a substantial number of end user devices, balanced against the R&D, CI and testing efforts required to maintain support for the lifetime of the Qt release.
.webp)
