Magento 2.4.6: Your Gateway to a Faster, Safer, and More Engaging Online Store

When the talk is about the robust eCommerce platform, Magento always tops the chart.

Since its inception, Magento has been launching different versions whose powerful features enable businesses to power up their online store.

From Magento 1.0 to 2.4.5, every update has offered e-tailers the tools they need to run their online store to deliver great shopping experiences to customers.

But each version reaches its end of life someday and becomes more vulnerable to risks that impact the performance of online stores.

Therefore, from time to time, upgrades become highly important to enhance security and keep up with platform advancements. That’s why, it is advisable to switch to the latest version of Magento – Magento 2.4.6.

Magento 2.4.6 was rolled out on March 14, 2023. It has come with a comprehensive suite of features and performance enhancements to help you run your online store hassle-free.

Moreover, its security upgrade enables you to safeguard your digital storefront from any kind of malware threats and cyber risks.

In this article, we delve into the advancements that Magento 2.4.6 brings to the table and how it improves the operational efficiency of your eCommerce store.

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Magento 2.4.6: The Latest Upgrades and Features

Let’s take a look at the latest version’s upgrades:

1. Security Enhancements

eCommerce platforms handle a significant amount of customer data, including personal information, payment details, and purchase histories. A breach could lead to the exposure of this sensitive data that impact customer trust and brand reputation. So, if you are running an outdated version of Magento, you are at a higher risk of being hacked.

By upgrading to Magento 2.4.6, you can help improve the security of your Magento store. Here’s how:

• Specific auditing of actions within grid views, exports, and mass actions addresses gaps in admin access logs. This ensures that all admin actions are logged and can be reviewed for suspicious activity.

• ReCAPTCHA validation no longer fails in case of unexpected errors during payment processing. This provides a hassle-free checkout experience that encourages customers to return for future purchases, fostering long-term loyalty and repeat business.

• When the admin changes their email, the new system configuration requires email confirmation. This helps to prevent attackers from changing the email address of an admin user without their knowledge.

2. Platform Advancements

Platforms that are not regularly updated may become obsolete as new technologies emerge. This can make it difficult to keep up with the competition and to stay ahead of the curve. By continuously advancing eCommerce platforms, you can provide your users with a more secure, performant, and feature-rich experience. Let’s take a look at the advancements in Magento 2.4.6 for the unparalleled growth of your eCommerce business:

• Added support for PHP 8.2: PHP 8.2 is the latest version of PHP and it has a number of security improvements over previous versions of PHP. Magento 2.4.6 requires PHP 8.2, which helps to improve the security of Magento stores.

• Deprecated support for PHP 7.4: Magento 2.4.6 no longer supports PHP 7.4. This is because PHP 7.4 is no longer considered to be a secure version of PHP. If you are running Magento 2.X on PHP 7.4, you will need to upgrade to PHP 8.2 in order to continue using Magento 2.4.6.

• Include support for Composer 2.2.x: Composer is a dependency manager for PHP. Magento 2.4.6 now supports Composer 2.2.x. This means that you can use Composer 2.2.x to install and manage the dependencies for your Magento store.

• Involves support for Redis 7.0.x: Redis is a popular in-memory data store. Magento 2.4.6 now supports Redis 7.0.x. This means that you can use Redis 7.0.x to cache data for your Magento store.

• Adobe Commerce and Magento Open Source 2.4.6 support OpenSearch v2.x on both Cloud and on-premises: OpenSearch is a popular search engine. Magento 2.4.6 now supports OpenSearch v2.x. This means that you can use OpenSearch v2.x as the search engine for your Magento store.

• OpenSearch is now the default search engine for Magento Open Source and Adobe Commerce: Magento 2.4.6 now uses OpenSearch as the default search engine. This means that you do not need any module to configure OpenSearch separately.

• Supports ElasticSearch 8.x: ElasticSearch is a popular search engine that is based on Apache Lucene. Magento 2.4.6 now supports ElasticSearch 8.x. This means that you can use ElasticSearch 8.x as the search engine for your Magento store.

• Incorporated support for MariaDB 10.6: MariaDB is a popular open-source relational database management system (RDBMS). Magento 2.4.6 now supports MariaDB 10.6. This means that you can use MariaDB 10.6 as the database for your Magento store.

• DHL schema migrated from v6.2 to v10.0: DHL is a global logistics company. Magento 2.4.6 now uses the DHL schema v10.0. This means that you can use the DHL shipping method with Magento 2.4.6.

• Updated JavaScript libraries to the latest versions: Magento 2.4.6 updated the JavaScript libraries to the latest versions. This means that you can use the latest features and bug fixes in the JavaScript libraries.

• Removed outdated dependencies: Magento 2.4.6 removed outdated dependencies. This means that Magento 2.4.6 is now more lightweight and efficient.

• Updated Laminas dependencies that support PHP 8.2: Magento 2.4.6 updated the Laminas dependencies that support PHP 8.2. This means that Magento 2.4.6 is now more compatible with PHP 8.2.

• Zend_HTTP replaced with laminas-HTTP: Zend_HTTP is an outdated library for making HTTP requests. Magento 2.4.6 replaced Zend_HTTP with laminas-http. This means that Magento 2.4.6 is now more efficient and secure.

• Zend_Json replaced with laminas-json: Zend_Json is an outdated library for handling JSON data. Magento 2.4.6 replaced Zend_Json with laminas-json. This means that the new Magento version is now more stable and powerful.

• Merchants now have the ability to specify a custom external SMTP provider: Magento 2.4.6 now allows merchants to specify a custom external SMTP provider. This means that merchants can use their own SMTP provider for sending emails from Magento.

• Zend_Validate replaced with laminas-validator: Zend_Validate is an outdated library for validating data. Magento 2.4.6 replaced Zend_Validate with laminas-validator. This means that Magento 2.4.6 is more effective and secure.

3. Performance and Scalability Improvement

A slow or unresponsive eCommerce platform can lead to a poor customer experience. By running your online store in an outdated version, you’ll face such challenges. So, it is better to upgrade to the latest version of Magento 2.4.6. Let’s explore:

• New Configuration Setting: Magento 2.4.6 introduces a new configuration setting that allows you to improve the performance of operations that affect customer segments. This setting can be used to limit the number of customer segments that are loaded at once. This makes operational tasks easier, such as creating new customer segments and applying customer segments to customers.

• Improved Product Grid: The configuration setting can be used to limit the number of products that are displayed in the product grid at once. This can improve the performance of the product grid for merchants with large catalogs.

• Improved Import Process: With Magento 2.4.6, merchants can now import up to 100,000 records per minute. This can save merchants’ time and improve the efficiency of their import processes.

• Improved Order Processing: Magento 2.4.6 introduces a new load-balancing feature to improve the performance of order processing. With this feature, you can distribute orders across multiple servers and manage high volumes of orders.

4. Accessibility Updates

Accessibility updates can make it easier for all shoppers to use an eCommerce platform. This boosts sales and increases customer satisfaction. Here are a few accessibility features that you can get in Magento 2.4.6:

• The visual text label: It comes with the visual text label for the Sign-in button that matches its accessible name. This makes it easier for screen readers and other assistive technologies to identify the button and its purpose.

• Descriptive accessible names: Magento 2.4.6 comes with an update of adding descriptive accessible names to buttons throughout the storefront. This makes it easier for users to understand what each button does, even if they cannot see the visual label.

• Verbal descriptive labels: The addition of verbal descriptive labels to the Has Video checkboxes in search filters makes it easier for users to understand whether or not a product has a video associated with it.

• Keyboard-only users: With this update, keyboard-only users can now access all page functionality on the storefront. This means that users who cannot use a mouse can still navigate the storefront and complete their purchases.

5. GraphQL Schema

Flexibility and control over the purchase order process offer the agility to adapt to changing circumstances, maintain supplier relationships, and drive operational efficiencies. Here’s what Magento 2.4.6 brings to the table for a better PO process:

• Purchase Order GraphQL Schema: This schema includes functionality such as creating, editing, and deleting purchase orders. With this, you can automate your purchase order process to create custom applications that interact with Magento’s purchase order functionality.

• Purchase Order Rule GraphQL Schema: This schema allows the creation, editing, controlling, and deleting of approval rules and manually validating purchase orders.

6. Braintree

Braintree offers secure, diverse, and convenient payment options, catering to customer preferences. This includes credit cards, debit cards, digital wallets, and other alternative payment methods, which can enhance the overall user experience. Here’s what Magento 2.4.6 offers:

• PayLater messaging with PayPal Vault: This allows merchants to send personalized messages to customers who choose to pay later with Braintree. The messages can be used to remind customers about their payment due date or to offer them a discount if they pay early.

• Fraud Protection: Braintree has introduced a new fraud protection feature that can help merchants reduce the risk of fraudulent transactions. The feature uses machine learning to analyze transactions and identify potential fraud.

• ACH: Braintree has added support for ACH payments, which is a popular payment method in the United States. ACH payments allow customers to make payments directly from their bank accounts.

• LPM (Local Payment Methods) Webhooks: Braintree has added support for webhooks for LPM (Local Payment Methods). This means that merchants can be notified when a customer makes a payment with a local payment method, such as Alipay or WeChat Pay.

7. GraphQL Enhancements

The GraphQL enhancements in Magento 2.4.6 provide merchants and developers with a more powerful and flexible API that can be used to build better applications. Let’s take a look at them:

• Improved Response time: The response time has been improved when querying categories for which permissions are enabled. This means that it will now be faster to get a list of categories that a user has permission to view.

• Improved Category Tree Rendering: This means that the category tree will now render more quickly, especially when there are many categories.

• Reduced response time for bulk cart operations: This means that it will now be faster to add or remove multiple items from a cart.

• Order sorting: This means that customers can now sort their orders by date, status, or other criteria.

Additional Issue Fix in Magento 2.4.6

• The bin/magento setup:di:compile -vvv (or with the -v or -vv options) command now returns an informative message on failure. Previously, if this command failed, it would only return a generic error message. Now, it will include the details of the error that can help developers troubleshoot problems with the Magento installation.

• Eliminate overwriting of .gitignore files by installing the composer command. Previously, if the composer install command was executed in a directory that contained a .gitignore file, the command would overwrite the file. This could lead to problems if the .gitignore file contained important information about which files should not be committed to the repository. Now, the composer install command will no longer overwrite .gitignore files.

• var/log/exception.log includes the exceptions and exception stack trace entries. Previously, only the error message was included in var/log/exception.log. Now, the exception and exception stack trace entries are also included. This can help developers troubleshoot problems with the Magento application.

• The checkout buttons work as expected with keyboard input. Previously, the buttons in the checkout were not always accessible to users who were using keyboard input. Now, the buttons have been updated to work effectively with keyboard input. This makes it easier for users with disabilities to complete their purchases.

Wrapping Up

Magento releases regular updates to improve its platform’s functionality, security, and user experience. Magento 2.4.6 is one such version with notable differences and improvements compared to previous versions. This updated version enhances the overall eCommerce experience, streamlines operations, and strengthens security. By making the transition to Magento 2.4.6, you can ensure that your online presence remains competitive and responsive to evolving consumer demands.