Windows 11 version 22H2 will be available in the coming months, and driver updates are starting to reflect that. AMD has already released its first driver with official support for this version of Windows, and now Intel is doing the same. The latest Intel Graphics drivers for Iris Xe processors – versions 31.0.101.3222 and 31.0.101.2111 – add official support for Windows 11 version 22H2, which means they should now work better with this update, and any issues that arise with drivers on this The version of Windows is up to Intel to fix it.
However, as you may be able to tell from the version numbers above, that’s not the only news here. With this version of the Intel Graphics drivers, the company is also splitting support for older processors, specifically products that are part of the sixth to tenth generations of Intel processors. These models will now be on a legacy support model, which means they will only get important fixes and security updates, usually at a quarterly pace.
Starting with this version, each driver package contains two sets of driver files. One group (in this case, version 31.0.101.2111) is aimed at these older products, and the other (31.0.101.3222) is for more modern models. All of the dropped products predate the Iris Xe graphics architecture, which debuted with the 11th generation of Intel mobile processors and brought significant performance improvements to integrated graphics. Both 11th and 12th generation Intel processors have Intel Iris Xe graphics, and there’s also a separate Intel Iris Xe Max GPU, all of which are still in the mainstream support cycle. As for Intel Arc A-series graphics, which are slowly making their way to the market, these are getting separate updates, and they don’t really have support for Windows 11 version 22H2 yet, but a new driver update should be coming soon.
Aside from this change in the support plan, the latest Intel drivers don’t include much new. Both versions include a fix for a crash in Watch Dogs: Legion when starting the game, while version 31.0.101.3222 also includes a fix for an error message that appears when starting Call Of Duty: Vanguard as well as a fix for an issue where Intel NUC models may go into a sleep state instead of shutting down Employment.
If you’re interested, you can download the latest Intel Graphics drivers here, and read more about the legacy support model for older Intel processors here.