Linux Kernel 7.2 Officially Released, This Is What’s New

posted by Marius Nestor on Aug 16, 2026,
updated Aug 25, 2026

Highlights of Linux 7.2 include cache-aware load-balancing support, initial HDMI 2.1 FRL support to the AMDGPU driver, support for devres-based management of ACPI notify handlers, initial CRI platform support for the Intel Xe driver, and Rust support for the IBM System/390 (S/390) architecture.

Linux kernel 7.2 also introduces a “Fair(er)” GPU scheduler, support for the ‘zerocopy’ library to Rust support to make zero-cost memory manipulation effortless, new hwcaps for the 2025 dpISA extensions on the AArch64 (ARM64) architecture, and enables large folios by default for the Btrfs file system.

Read on

Update (by Roy)

In LWN:

• Linux 7.2

  Well, this last week of the release was - once again - bigger than I
  would have wished for, but hey, with the whole "new normal" thing, if
  I delayed releases for that reason we'd probably never have a release
  at all.
  
  
  There are a number of fairly late reverts - the drm scheduling reverts
  stand out, but there's a few other ones in here too. It may not be
  pretty, but it's the correct way to deal with "oh, that code wasn't
  ready and caused problems". People will be trying that again later.
  
  
  But while the drm reverts stand out and are some of the bigger patches
  in here, there's a lot of small fixes all over. Mostly in drivers, but
  networking remained fairly active this last week too. And then there
  are a few random patches to architecture files and perf core.
  
  
  With this, the merge window for 7.3 obviously opens tomorrow, and I
  already have 40 pending pull requests. I appreciate all the timely
  people. You know who you are,
  
  
              Linus
  

• The 7.2 kernel has been released

  Significant features in this release include common attributes support in the bpf() system call, cache-aware load balancing for the CPU scheduler, large-folio support in the Btrfs filesystem, further swap subsystem improvements, improvements to the Landlock security module, support for block devices with inline encryption hardware via the dm-inlinecrypt device-mapper target, and much more. See the LWN merge window summaries (part 1, part 2) and the KernelNewbies 7.2 page for more information.

More here:

• OMG Ubuntu ☛ Linux 7.2 brings cache-aware scheduling, faster ext4 and Btrfs

  Linux kernel 7.2 has been released, adding cache-aware scheduling, ext4 filesystem performance boosts and a slew of new and improved hardware drivers for laptops and peripherals. A merge widow record was also set during the 9-week development cycle, with more than 2,100 individual contributors involved. AI, obviously, has helped. Commit-crunching by LWN found roughly 5% of commits in 7.2 have an ‘assisted-by’ tag, indicating Hey Hi (AI) usage. Not that the latest kernel update was all additions.

GoL:

• Linux kernel 7.2 is officially out now | GamingOnLinux

  The Linux kernel version 7.2 has now been officially released with optimizations, new hardware support and lots of bug fixes.

It's FOSS:

• Linux 7.2 Arrives With Cache Aware Scheduling After More Than a Year of Work

  AMD's Radeon driver also picks up HDMI 2.1 support, and Fashion Company Apple M3 MacBooks can now boot the kernel.

Ji M:

• Linux Kernel 7.2 Released with AMDGPU HDMI 2.1 FRL Support

  Linux 7.2, the new major kernel version, was released on Sunday!

Bootlin:

• Linux 7.2 released, Bootlin contributions inside

  Linux 7.2 has been released last Sunday afternoon. You can take a look at the whole content of this new version thanks to LWN merge window posts (see part 1 and part 2).

The Register:

• Linux 7.2 debuts, Linus Torvalds says ‘new normal’ means he had to do it now ... or never?

  Linus Torvalds has decided version 7.2 of the Linux kernel is ready for release, albeit in a “new normal” state that he seems not to entirely love.

  The kernel boss announced the debut of a new kernel in his weekly development status update, which on August 16 opened with the observation that “this last week of the release was – once again – bigger than I would have wished for.”

  He attributed that uncomfortable size to what he last week described as “the new normal” for the kernel at a time when developers have increased the volume of contributions using AI coding tools.

  “If I delayed releases for that reason we'd probably never have a release at all,” Torvalds wrote, before adding that the release includes “a number of fairly late reverts - the drm scheduling reverts stand out, but there's a few other ones in here too.”

Mels Dees:

• Linux 7.2 released after a hectic final week

  Linux 7.2 is officially available. Linus Torvalds (photo) released the new kernel version after a relatively busy final week of development. Among other things, changes to GPU scheduling were rolled back at the last minute because they were causing problems.

  Torvalds writes in his announcement that the last week once again yielded more changes than he would have liked. However, that was no reason for him to delay the release. According to him, such hectic weeks right before a new kernel version seem to be becoming the new normal.

Neowin:

• Linus Torvalds officially releases Linux kernel 7.2 with initial Apple M3 support

  Just as we have been anticipating for several weeks now, Linus Torvalds has announced the official release of Linux 7.2, without the need for an additional eighth week of testing. However, the update was larger-than-expected and features critical late-stage reverts to the DRM scheduling code, which clearly wasn’t ideal.

  Linux 7.2 arrived on time, despite a hectic final week of development, which is lucky because had anything major cropped up, we could have seen it delayed a week. As this kernel matures into a stable release, Torvalds is getting ready for Linux 7.3. From Monday, developers will start adding major new features to the kernel ready for testing over the next few months. Torvalds said that there are already 40 pull requests already queued up and waiting for review.

Late coverage and slopfarms:

• Linux 7.2 makes TSC support mandatory for x86 CPUs, but it's not like Windows 11's TPM 2.0 check

  Linux 7.2 mandates Time Stamp Counter (TSC) support on x86, removing decades of legacy timing fallback code; most CPUs since the 1993 Pentium already have a 64-bit TSC, which offers much faster, higher-resolution timing than HPET or ACPI PM timers. This change is not analogous to Windows 11's TPM 2.0 hardware block.

• AI-enriched Linux 7.2 delivers cache-aware scheduling - here's everything new [Ed: Slop galore]

  Linus Torvalds announced the release of Linux kernel 7.2 over the weekend. He wrote, "This last week of the release was -- once again -- bigger than I would have wished for, but hey, with the whole 'new normal' thing, if I delayed releases for that reason, we'd probably never have a release at all."

• Linux 7.2 drops AI cache scheduling, sweeping hardware gains [Ed: This seems to be a slopfarm]

• Linux 7.2 Adds AI-Aware Cache Scheduling [Ed: Slopfarms covering slop-filled Linux]

Late coverage:

• Linux 7.2 Enables HDMI 2.1 FRL Support for AMD Display GPUs

  Linux 7.2 and Manjaro 26.1 bring a host of updates that cater to a wide range of users, from developers to gamers. Ton explores how GNU/Linux 7.2 introduces features like Cache-Aware Load Balancing, which optimizes CPU performance for multi-threaded tasks and expanded AMD GPU support, enhancing display capabilities for high-resolution monitors.

CNX:

• Linux 7.2 release – Main changes, Arm, RISC-V, and MIPS architectures

  Linus Torvalds released Linux 7.2 on LKML last Sunday: Well, this last week of the release was – once again – bigger than I would have wished for, but hey, with the whole “new normal” thing, if I delayed releases for that reason we’d probably never have a release at all. There are a number of fairly late reverts – the drm scheduling reverts stand out, but there’s a few other ones in here too. It may not be pretty, but it’s the correct way to deal with “oh, that code wasn’t ready and caused problems”. People will be trying that again later. But while the drm reverts stand out and are some of the bigger patches in here, there’s a lot of small fixes all over. Mostly in drivers, but networking remained fairly active this last week too.

Some late coverage:

• Kernel 7.2: RK3588 media, smarter GPU memory, and Rust foundations

  Linux kernel 7.2 adds broad core, Rust, and hardware-support updates, with Collabora contributing 102 patches across graphics, media, virtualization, networking, power management, and SoC enablement.