Discrepancy Between Latest Driver Version and Installed Version for Intel HD Graphics 4600

[mehdielhamidi]

I recently downloaded and installed the latest driver package for Intel HD Graphics 4600 from your official website, which is listed as version 15.40.5171. However, after installation, the driver version that appears in my system is 20.19.15.5171, which seems to be dated from 2020.

According to the information on your website, the latest driver update should have been released in 2021. Could you please clarify why there is a discrepancy between the advertised release date and the version installed on my system? Additionally, is there a more recent driver version available that I should be using?

[n_scott_pearson]

First of all, do not confuse Driver Version Numbers with Package Version Numbers. Many Intel driver packages - LAN, WLAN, GFX, BT, etc. - contain multiple drivers for the various hardware products that are supported. These drivers are independently numbered, and their numbering is updated only when they are actually changed. As a result, you could see a new driver package be released but the driver specific to for your hardware did not change, and thus it has the same version string as in previous packages.

Secondly, never rely on date-time information in Intel driver packages. In many packages - and indeed in many individual driver releases (the chipset drivers being a good example) - the date-time fields are used to carry non-date-time information. Thus, you may see a driver that appears to be from many years ago when, in fact, it is not.

In your specific case, driver version 20.19.15.5171 is indeed the latest driver available for Intel HD Graphics 4600.

Hope this helps,

...S