Magento 2.4.8-beta2: Latest Features and Performance Upgrades

Magento 2.4.8-beta2: Latest Features and Performance Upgrades

Published on: Feb 26, 2025 by Ashvin Thakor

As of February 2025, Adobe Commerce has introduced version 2.4.8-beta2, building upon the enhancements of 2.4.8-beta1. This latest release focuses on security improvements, platform upgrades, performance enhancements, and updates to the Braintree extension.

Security Enhancements

Version 2.4.8-beta2 emphasizes bolstering platform security:

  • Duo Security 2FA Update: The integration now utilizes Duo's latest Web SDK v4, facilitating a seamless transition to the Universal Prompt. Administrators must update their configurations to include the new Client ID and Secret.

  • Encryption Key Management: The process for managing encryption keys has been redesigned for improved usability. New CLI commands are available for changing keys and re-encrypting specific data. Notably, changing keys via the Admin UI is no longer supported; CLI commands are now mandatory.

Platform Upgrades

To ensure robustness and compatibility, several platform components have been updated:

  • Database Collation: The default collation for MySQL has been updated to utf8mb4, ensuring compatibility with MySQL 8 and future-proofing against the deprecation of utf8mb3.

  • PHP Compatibility: Support for PHP 8.4 has been added, encompassing Adobe Commerce, bundled extensions, and Adobe-owned tools. While PHP 8.3 remains supported, PHP 8.1 has been removed from all project libraries and dependencies.

  • Third-Party Component Updates: Key components have been upgraded to their latest stable versions, including Composer 2.8.x, nginx 1.26, PHPUnit 10.x, TinyMCE 6.8.5, and Varnish 7.6.x.

Performance Enhancements

The latest release addresses performance, particularly concerning product pricing:

  • Tier Price Updates: Bulk updates to tier prices via the /V1/products/tier-prices REST API endpoint are now more efficient, mitigating previous performance issues and potential site unresponsiveness.

Braintree Extension Updates

Enhancements to the Braintree extension aim to improve both merchant and customer experiences:

  • Package Tracking Integration: Upon shipping a PayPal order, the Braintree extension now transmits carrier and tracking information to both the merchant's and customer's PayPal accounts. This addition enhances transparency and reduces operational overhead by providing customers with direct access to tracking details through their PayPal accounts.