Should You Upgrade to Adobe Commerce 2.4.8? Our Team Weighs In
When Adobe releases a new version, merchants usually want one thing: a simple yes or no. And honestly? One of our developers (we won’t name names), joked that this blog could just read:
“YES you should, why did you even click on this?”
While that would make for a very direct article, we thought it might not provide all the context you need so we asked our Development, and QA teams to give more specific insights on what has changed in Adobe Commerce 2.4.8, what can break during an upgrade, and when (if ever) waiting makes sense.
Here’s what they had to say, directly informed by their day-to-day experience handling upgrades for real stores.
What’s Actually New in Adobe Commerce 2.4.8
Our dev team emphasized that beyond the broad “security and API updates” you’d expect, a few improvements stand out as especially meaningful:
1. Important Braintree & PayPal Updates
Keeping these integrations current reduces unexpected checkout failures…the kind of thing you don’t want to discover on a Saturday night.
2. Better Returns for Guest Checkout
If you allow guest checkout, the upgraded returns flow is smoother and more reliable. It’s not flashy, but it reduces support burden and customer frustration.
3. PHP 8.3/8.4 Support
This is a double-edged sword. “2.4.8 supports PHP 8.3/8.4 which might break deprecated PHP features under the new version,” shared Bhupendra Jadeja, Adobe Certified Master Commerce Architect. “But long-term, running on newer PHP versions means better performance and security.”
4. 500+ Bug Fixes in Core
Again, not glamorous, but it reduces the likelihood of unexpected bugs during development. Fixes like these make the platform sturdier for everyone.
5. Elasticsearch Deprecation
Elasticsearch 7 and 8 are officially deprecated, and Adobe has optimized 2.4.8 for OpenSearch.
Translation: it’s time to plan your switch to OpenSearch if you haven’t already.
Where Upgrades Typically Break (From Real-World Experience)
Our dev team didn’t sugarcoat this one. The two biggest risks they called out:
1. Third-Party Modules
“Modules/apps need to support the new version,” Sander Mangel, VP of Technical Solutions warned. If they don’t, expect some issues to work through.
2. Custom Work
Customizations are likely to handle a version upgrade without much trouble if they were built using best practices.
If not? Expect breakage.
And, this type of breakage isn’t always obvious. Sometimes it’s silent: a plugin stops intercepting correctly, a class override no longer fires, or an API response changes.
“Verify the specific areas touched by the upgrade and any customizations that may be affected,” advised Maryna Andreieva, our QA team lead. This is where a good regression plan matters.
What Absolutely Must Be Tested Before You Go Live
Our dev + QA teams aligned on a few must-test areas:
1. All Core Commerce Flows
This includes:
- add to cart
- checkout
- payments
- shipping
- customer creation
- refunds/returns
2. High-Traffic Stores
“Load testing if your store handles high traffic,” Bhupendra added. It helps evaluate the system’s ability to handle user interactions, data processing, and other tasks efficiently.
3. Any Customization or Integration Affected by the Upgrade
If your site has custom pricing rules, modified checkout steps, unique search logic, or integrations that write to the customer account or order tables, the upgrade can surface issues that don’t show up until testing.
Are There Any Situations Where You Shouldn’t Upgrade?
We posed this question to the team. The response:
“NO 😄”
Once the laughing stopped, we got the real explanation:
- Recent security breaches have targeted Adobe Commerce and Magento Open Source stores.
- Staying on outdated versions increases vulnerability.
- Security patches and upgrades reduce exposure before issues arise.
There are rare exceptions, like:
- entering peak season
- an unsupported critical module
- no working staging environment
But those are timing issues, not reasons to avoid upgrading altogether.
The Bottom Line: Should You Upgrade to Adobe Commerce 2.4.8?
Based on the direct input from our developers, QA analysts, and delivery leads:
Yes — you should upgrade.
Not because Adobe released something new, but because:
- payment stability matters
- PHP support matters
- search deprecation catches up quickly
- 500+ fixes reduce long-term headaches
- security risks are real
If you want help assessing your customizations, testing properly, or planning your upgrade timeline, our team can walk you through what it will take. Let’s chat.
