Significant enhancements to KosmicKrisp, support for 16 new extensions, and improved tooling
Released 12 May, 2026
The Vulkan SDK 1.4.350.0 is now available for download simultaneously for Linux, macOS, and Windows. Highlights of this release include major updates for KosmicKrisp, support for 16 new extensions, and ARM64X support for the GFXReconstruct capture layer. Overall, this maintenance-focused update brings tooling and platform-specific improvements while continuing Vulkan’s steady evolution.
macOS: Major KosmicKrisp Enhancements
KosmicKrisp has received significant enhancements in this release, improving its ability to support Vulkan applications on Apple silicon:
- Support for VK_EXT_depth_clip_control
- Support for VK_AMD_shader_image_load_store_lod
- Support for VK_KHR_draw_indirect_count
- Support for VK_KHR_shader_subgroup_rotate
- Support for VK_KHR_shader_maximal_reconvergence
- Support for VK_EXT_shader_subgroup_ballot
- Support for VK_EXT_shader_subgroup_vote
- Tessellation shaders are now supported
These updates greatly improve feature parity and shader functionality on Apple platforms.
Windows: Improved tooling support on ARM
For the Windows on ARM SDK, the GFXReconstruct capture layer is now built in ARM64X format. This change allows the layer to be used seamlessly with both x64 and ARM64 applications, enhancing capture/replay workflows on modern Windows ARM devices.
Linux:
- Improved setup-env.sh with more focused LD_LIBRARY_PATH behavior to reduce system library conflicts.
- This is the final release supporting Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (future releases target 24.04 and 26.04).
New Extensions (All Platforms)
The Vulkan headers now include the following new extensions (optional and driver-dependent):
- VK_KHR_maintenance11
- VK_ARM_data_graph_neural_accelerator_statistics
- VK_SEC_throttle_hint
- VK_ARM_data_graph_optical_flow
- VK_ARM_graph_instruction_set_tosa
- VK_ARM_scheduling_controls (revision 2)
- VK_EXT_primitive_restart_index
- VK_QCOM_queue_perf_hint
- VK_KHR_device_fault
- VK_KHR_shader_abort
- VK_KHR_shader_constant_data
- VK_KHR_device_address_commands
- VK_ARM_shader_instrumentation
- VK_VALVE_shader_mixed_float_dot_product
- VK_SEC_ubm_surface
- VK_QCOM_cooperative_matrix_conversion
These additions expand support for maintenance tasks, neural accelerators, scheduling controls, shader instrumentation, and cooperative matrix operations — particularly valuable for mobile, embedded, and specialized accelerator workloads.
Additional Notes
- All Platforms: The release includes an alpha release of GPU Dump in the validation layers — a new developer tool for deeper GPU-centric debugging (see the documentation). We are seeking early feedback from developers on this new capability.
- All platforms: Improved validation coverage, with updated VUID documentation reflecting the current status of validation layer coverage.
- All platforms: Old SPIR-V header folders will be removed in the next release.
- Windows: Windows now requires Visual Studio 2022 (VS2019 dropped).
- macOS: SDL3 headers are now provided only via .xcframework.
Why an Up-to-Date SDK Is Valuable
Even though this release is evolutionary rather than revolutionary, keeping your Vulkan SDK current delivers clear, compounding benefits for developers and teams:
- Access to New Capabilities: Fresh extensions and loader updates (like those in KosmicKrisp) let you immediately take advantage of hardware features and optimizations without waiting for major version jumps.
- Better Tooling and Debugging: Features such as GPU Dump and expanded validation coverage help catch issues earlier, reduce debugging time, and improve overall code quality.
- Stability and Bug Fixes: Ongoing improvements to layers, loaders, and platform support minimize subtle compatibility problems and platform-specific quirks.
- Future-Proofing: Dropping legacy support (old Ubuntu, VS2019, outdated headers) encourages modern practices and prevents technical debt from accumulating.
- Productivity and Performance: Migrating projects to the latest SDK means cleaner code, better portability, and higher performance — especially important for cross-platform development.
In a competitive graphics and compute landscape, an up-to-date SDK isn’t maintenance overhead — it’s a strategic advantage that helps you ship faster, debug less, and stay ahead of evolving hardware and OS requirements.
Happy coding!
Thank You Vulkan Ecosystem Contributors!
A big thank you to all the Vulkan contributors who made this release possible — including the Khronos Vulkan Working Group, LunarG, Valve, ARM, Qualcomm, and the many developers who contributed patches and feedback. Your ongoing work on KosmicKrisp, GPU Dump, validation layers, and platform improvements keeps the ecosystem thriving. Thank you!
Release Notes
Access the release notes for all of the details on the Vulkan SDK 1.4.341 release, including deprecation notices, known issues, and information on submitting defect reports.
