Linux Kernel 6.13 Offers Improvements for AMD/Apple Users
The latest Linux kernel is now available, and it includes plenty of improvements, especially for those who use AMD or Apple-based systems.
On the release of Linux kernel 6.13, Linus Torvalds (the creator of Linux) had this to say:
“It's mostly some final driver fixes (GPU and networking dominating – normal), with some doc updates too. And various little stuff all over. The shortlog is appended for people who want to see the details (and, as always, it's just the shortlog for the last week; the full 6.13 log is obviously much too big).”
Sounds like the latest kernel is kind of meh. But is it really? What can be found in this latest iteration? If your system includes an AMD 3D V-Cache CPU, there’s a new performance optimizer driver that will improve both the performance and handling of those processors. This addition was created by AMD in collaboration with TSMC and the 3DFabric silicon stacking and advanced packaging technologies.
As well, the AMDGPU/AMDKFD driver received a bit of attention by way of the AMDGPU Display Core, such that it will properly build on the LoongArch architecture. Another addition is the ability to enable the Zero RPM feature for Radeon RX 7000 graphics cards, so the fan will remain idle when the GPU temperature is low.
Intel also received some love with the initial display support for Xe3 graphics that should appear with the Panther Lake CPUs this year.
Other changes include atomic write support for both ext4 and XFS filesystems, support for many older Apple iPad and iPhone devices, real-time kernel support for LoongArch CPUs, support for Secure Digital Ultra Capacity memory cards, as well as the usual bug fixes.
You can read more about the latest Linux kernel from this mailing list entry by Torvalds.
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