Magento 2.4 – Check Out The Latest Version

Magento 2.4 was released on July 28th making it the latest version of the Magento eCommerce platform.

Wondering what’s new under the hood?

In this post, we’ll take a look at a few of the updates and upgrades that are contained within this latest update.

Let’s get started! 

2-Factor Authentication (2FA) Enabled By Default For Magento Admin

One of the most important security updates to come with the Magento 2.4 release is the implementation of default 2-factor authentication (2FA) for Magento administration accounts.

2FA is one of the most powerful ways to prevent unauthorized access to Magento administrator accounts, but many users did not have this feature enabled, which could lead to unauthorized access to Magento administration accounts and data loss.

Hopefully, the default enabling of 2FA will encourage more store owners to secure their accounts and protect them from unauthorized access.

Improvements To Media Gallery Interface 

The Magento Media Gallery has been completely overhauled with a new searchable interface or all Magento media assets. 

This improved management tool offers 30x faster searching, filtering, and sorting of images compared to the previous iteration of the Media Gallery, and also features tighter Adobe Stock integrations which will make it easier to purchase and deploy stock media assets in Magento stores. 

Buy Online, Pick Up In-Store (BOPIS) Support

Among other payment improvements, Magento 2.4 brings support for Buy Online, Pick Up In-Store (BOPIS) integrations through the Inventory Management module. This provides users with physical storefronts additional options for selling their items online and allowing customers to pick them up in-store.

New Payment Integrations With Braintree VBE

The new Braintree VBE system used in Magento 2.4 supports a wide variety of new payment methods including Venmo, Google Pay, and Apple Pay, providing customers with more purchase options and maximizing conversion rates.

Deprecation Of Authorize.Net and Braintree Payment Methods

As of Magento 2.4, the Authorize.Net and Braintree payment method integrations are no longer included in the Magento core code. Merchants using these payment processors will need to install their official extensions, which are available on the Magento Marketplace.

Enhanced B2B Order Approval Workflows 

Magento 2.4 allows B2B companies to streamline the order placement process using an efficient, personalized approval workflow process, ensuring a faster and more convenient ordering process for both buyers and sellers. 

Seller-Assisted Shopping 

The new Seller-Assisted Shopping feature, which is available in both Magento Commerce and Open Source, allows merchants to view their own storefront on behalf of customers.

To use this feature, a customer can opt to allow storefront access to their accounts, and an access control list is used to configure which administrators can log into customer accounts, on a per-website basis.

Then, the administrator can place an order on behalf of the customer, and these orders are logged in the storefront and Magento Admin. All sessions are immediately destroyed after administrator logout, and customer passwords are not accessible at any time.

4x Faster Integration Environments For PRO Customers 

All PRO Customers are now able to access integration environments that offer up to 4x the performance of previously-offered environments. 

These Enhanced Integration Environments offer unparalleled performance, and are ideal for Magento stores that are large, complex, and require frequent updates and code changes. You can learn more about how to upgrade to Enhanced Integration Environments here.

Introduction Of Magento 2.3 End Of Life Date 

The release of Magento 2.4 has also heralded the release of the end-of-life date for Magento 2.3.x installations. The official Magento 2.3 EOL is July 2021. Magento 2.3 will continue to receive regular quality updates through this time.

However, security patching will continue through April 2022. Magento originally set this date for January of 2022, but has extended patching by 3 months, partially due to the challenging circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

It may seem like July 2021 is a while away – but that EOL date can sneak up on you faster than you would think. Given the new security and quality of life features offered by Magento 2.4, we highly recommend updating your installation as soon as it is practical to do so.

This Is Just The Tip Of The Iceberg – Check Out The Latest Documentation For More 

Every Magento release brings a huge number of improvements – and Magento 2.4 is no different. In total, this patch contains more than 100 new core code fixes, 30 security enhancements, and the resolution of more than 226 issues that were found on GitHub by Magento community members.

If you’d like to dive into the nitty-gritty, you can click here to see the official release notes for Magento 2.4 and explore the rest of the updates in further detail. There are a lot of backend updates including support for PHP 7.4, Elasticsearch 7.6.x, and MySQL 8.0, and plenty of other updates that will make Magento 2.4 the most stable and reliable iteration of the Magento platform yet.

Want more information about Magento updates, eCommerce tips, and more? Take a look at the 121eCommerce blog now, and get all the resources you need.