Mesa 25.3.5 Arrives with Vulkan Video Fixes and Driver Updates

In the ever-evolving world of open-source graphics drivers, Mesa continues to push boundaries and refine performance. While the tech community eagerly awaits the release of Mesa 25.0 stable, the developers have just rolled out Mesa 25.3.5, a significant point release that brings a host of fixes and improvements across multiple drivers.

A Point Release with Purpose

Mesa 25.3.5 isn’t just another incremental update—it’s a carefully crafted maintenance release designed to address critical issues and enhance stability for users still running the Mesa 25.3 stable series. With Mesa 26.0 on the horizon, this release serves as a final polish before the next major version takes center stage.

Vulkan Video Gets Smarter

One of the standout improvements in this release centers around RADV’s Vulkan Video implementation. The development team has implemented a more reliable method for computing tile sizes, which should translate to better performance and fewer artifacts during video playback. Additionally, they’ve fixed a subtle but important issue with H.264 decode’s maxActiveReferencePictures handling, ensuring smoother video decoding experiences for users.

Intel ANV Takes a Cautious Step Back

In what might seem like a surprising move, the Intel ANV driver has disabled Vulkan Video encode support for newer hardware including Meteor Lake and Alchemist dGPUs. This decision wasn’t made lightly—it reflects the developers’ commitment to quality over rushing incomplete features to users. The team acknowledges that the encode functionality needs more testing and refinement before it’s ready for prime time. This transparent approach demonstrates the maturity of the Mesa project and its dedication to delivering reliable, production-ready features.

Legacy Support Lives On

The release also brings welcome improvements to the aging R600 Gallium3D driver, which supports Radeon HD 2000 through HD 6000 series graphics cards. While these GPUs are considered ancient by modern standards, there’s still a community of users who rely on them, whether for retro gaming, secondary systems, or specialized applications. The fact that Mesa continues to maintain and improve support for hardware that’s well over a decade old speaks volumes about the project’s commitment to long-term support.

Mobile and Embedded Improvements

The TURNIP Qualcomm Adreno Vulkan driver receives several fixes in this release, addressing issues that mobile and embedded developers will appreciate. These improvements help ensure that Vulkan applications run smoothly on Snapdragon-powered devices, from smartphones to automotive systems.

NVK, the new kid on the block in the Mesa driver ecosystem, also gets some attention with a few targeted fixes that should improve stability and performance for NVIDIA hardware users who have embraced this open-source driver.

What This Means for Users

For most desktop users running modern hardware, Mesa 25.3.5 offers incremental but important stability improvements. If you’re using AMD GPUs with the RADV driver, you’ll benefit from the Vulkan Video enhancements. Intel GPU users might want to hold off on expecting Vulkan Video encode support until the next development cycle.

The release serves as a reminder that even as Mesa races toward new features and capabilities, the project maintains a strong focus on stability and bug fixes. This balanced approach ensures that users get both cutting-edge functionality and rock-solid reliability.

Looking Ahead

With Mesa 26.0 stable release imminent, Mesa 25.3.5 represents the final chapter for the 25.3 series. Users are encouraged to upgrade to the upcoming Mesa 26.0 when it becomes available, which promises even more features, performance improvements, and hardware support.

The full changelog and technical details are available in the official release announcement on the Mesa development mailing list, where developers discuss the intricacies of each change and the reasoning behind their decisions.

Mesa 25.3.5
Vulkan Video
RADV driver
Intel ANV
Graphics driver
Open source graphics
Mesa development
Linux graphics
GPU drivers
Video acceleration
AMD Radeon
Intel graphics
NVIDIA NVK
Point release
Driver stability
Hardware support
Retro gaming
Mobile graphics
Embedded systems
Snapdragon
Phoronix
Graphics news
Tech updates
Software development
Open source community
Driver maintenance
Legacy hardware support
Video decoding
Encode functionality
Quality assurance
Production ready
Long-term support
Incremental improvements
Bug fixes
Performance enhancements
Hardware acceleration
Graphics pipeline
API development
Cross-platform graphics
Gaming performance
Professional graphics
Driver optimization
Feature development
Community driven
Transparent development
Technical excellence
Software engineering
Graphics innovation
User experience
System stability
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Future of graphics
Open source revolution

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