Linux kernel 7.3 has been released following two months of development, incorporating over 20,000 changes from 3,171 contributors. The update introduces initial support for Apple M3 Pro, Max, and Ultra chips, alongside power management features for Apple silicon systems.
The Btrfs file system received significant performance optimizations, including a fivefold speed increase for journal writes and fsync operations. Additionally, the kernel now supports asynchronous FUSE operations via io_uring, enabling zero-copy data transfers to reduce CPU and memory overhead.
New hardware support includes the 2026 Steam Controller, various Logitech G502 series mice, and MSI Claw controllers. The update also addresses audio issues on specific laptop models from HP, Lenovo, and ASUS, as well as Minisforum mini-PCs.
The dmem controller in cgroup now enforces memory guarantees for applications, allowing the system to move non-guaranteed buffers to system RAM when video memory is exhausted. Furthermore, the new failfs pseudo-filesystem and fchroot system call provide enhanced file access isolation for sandboxing.
Ext4 performance has been improved through optimized parallel direct I/O writes and faster fallocate operations. BPF integration has also been expanded to binfmt_misc, allowing developers to dynamically select interpreters for executable files based on custom logic.
