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Velocity5.0

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Databricks lands DBR 18.2 GA on Spark 4.1; the 18.x line is the active story, older LTS pages are mostly doc refreshes.

data-platformspark-4databricks-runtimejdk-21lakehouselts-cycles
◆Current state
The substantive shipping event in the window is Databricks Runtime 18.2 GA on May 4, the latest minor in a fast 18.x cadence on Spark 4.1.0 (18.0 in January, 18.1 in March, 18.2 Beta on April 8, GA on May 4). The rest of the recent feed is an April 13 documentation refresh that updated release notes for older LTS versions — 14.3, 15.4, 16.4, 17.3, 13.3 — without new shipping behind them.
◆Where it's heading
Databricks is pushing Spark 4.1 hard through the runtime line: JDK 21 default in 18.x, breaking changes around NULL preservation and partition columns, aggressive deprecation of older behaviors (input_file_name removal, AWS SDK v1 shading). The 18.x cadence is roughly one minor every six weeks, and 16.4 LTS is acting as the bridge for customers needing to migrate Scala 2.12 code to 2.13 before they can move to 17 or 18.
◆Prediction
Expect an 18.x LTS designation later in 2026 once the line stabilizes, with continued behavioral hardening and more shaded dependency cleanup. Doc refreshes for older LTS versions — particularly 13.3 LTS, which is close to its August 2026 end-of-support — will likely keep landing as Databricks pushes customers up the runtime stack.

◆Recent moves

  1. 1mo ago

    Databricks Runtime 18.2 (released May 4, 2026)

    DBR 18.2 (and 18.2 ML) goes GA on May 4 with a Nov 4 end-of-support — the third minor on the Spark 4.1 line in the past four months. Continues the rapid 18.x cadence customers should plan around if they're targeting non-LTS runtimes.

  2. 2mo ago

    DBR 18.0 documentation refresh

    Documentation refresh for DBR 18.0, originally released in January 2026. Useful as a reference for the Spark 4.1 / JDK 21 default and the long list of behavioral changes in the 18 line, but not new shipping in this window.

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  3. 2mo ago

    Databricks Runtime 15.4 LTS Databricks Runtime 15.4 LTS for Machine Learning 3.5.0Aug 19, 2024Aug 19, 2027

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  4. 2mo ago

    Databricks Runtime 13.3 LTS Databricks Runtime 13.3 LTS for Machine Learning 3.4.1Aug 22, 2023Aug 22, 2026

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  5. 2mo ago

    Databricks Runtime 17.3 LTS Databricks Runtime 17.3 LTS for Machine Learning 4.0.0Oct 22, 2025Oct 22, 2028

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  6. 2mo ago

    Databricks Runtime 18.2 (Beta) Databricks Runtime 18.2 for Machine Learning (Beta) 4.1.0Apr 8, 2026Oct 8, 2026

    DBR 18.2 Beta posted April 8 and the doc page synced April 13. Beta-side preview of the same set of behavioral changes that landed in the May 4 GA — NULL struct preservation, NATURAL JOIN case-insensitivity, AWS SDK v1 shading.

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