PHP 8.6 Set for 19 November 2026, Adding Partial Application and Duration Class

PHP 8.6 is scheduled for general availability on 19 November 2026, with release candidate 4 already released for testing. The version's headline features include partial function application, a clamp() function, a new Duration class, and several deprecations that may generate warnings. A tester built PHP 8.6.0 RC4 from source and verified the examples, noting that partial application requires careful handling of variadic placeholders and optional parameters. The clamp() function throws a ValueError when the minimum exceeds the maximum, replacing manual min and max logic. The release candidate is not intended for production use, and dates may still shift before the final release, while PHP 8.2 reaches end of life on 31 December 2026.