Windows 11 version 24H2 is fast approaching, and it comes with a lot of changes. Not only does it add a bunch of new features, but it will change a lot under the hood, removing some legacy components and support for older hardware. But there's another victim of the upcoming update — the Windows Phone modding community.
Starting with version 24H2, Windows 11 will no longer install on older Arm-based devices, which includes a couple of Lumia phones that were being modded to run the OS. Devices such as the Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL will no longer be able to tinker with new Windows 11 releases.
Related The Windows 11 2024 Update is now available — here's what's new and why it's not Windows 12The Windows 11 2024 Update will bring a ton of changes to the operating system, including better support for Arm devices.
These devices were never supportedSource: SoftZone
Of course, Windows 11 was never meant to be installed on Lumia phones in the first place, and they weren't officially supported. Microsoft has a list of supported Qualcomm processors, and it only includes chips that were designed for Windows Arm PCs. That includes the Qualcomm Snapdragon 850 and later models, and no smartphone chips at all. You might notice that this also excludes the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835, which powered the first generation of WIndows 10 on Arm.
However, with some workarounds, you could still install Windows 11 on this unsupported hardware, including the Snapdragon 835 as well as Lumia phones. With Windows 11 version 24H2, though, that's going away. All of these devices run on Arm v8.0, which is an older version of the Arm architecture, and the Windows 11 2024 Update will only run on processors based on Arm v8.1 or later. Older processors simply aren't able to boot the operating system, so there's nothing that can be done to get them working. As noted by user XenoPanther on Twitter (now X), this change was initially spotted in Insider builds all the way back in 2022, but it never made it to public releases until the upcoming update.
Older PCs are being blocked, tooArm-based devices aren't the only ones being barred from this update, though. Windows 11 already had much stricter system requirements overall, and version 24H2 is eliminating workarounds for some very old hardware to run it. Specifically, if your PC doesn't support PopCnt and SSE 4.2 instructions, you won't be able to run Windows 11, no matter what workarounds you try to use.
It seems like Microsoft is trying to make a clean break from very old hardware, which makes sense when you consider Windows 11 version 24H2 was initially thought to be Windows 12 before an apparent change of plans inside the company. There's still a bit we don't know about the update, though, as the company is set to reveal more information on May 20th alongside launching new PCs powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon X series of processors.
Related Snapdragon X: Everything you need to know about Qualcomm's Arm computing chipsThe Snapdragon X Plus and the Snapdragon X Elite are in laptops right now, and here's everything you need to know about the X series.
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