{"id":18864,"date":"2026-09-24T13:13:24","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T17:13:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.mathworks.com\/simulink\/?p=18864"},"modified":"2026-09-24T13:13:24","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T17:13:24","slug":"whats-new-in-r2026b","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.mathworks.com\/simulink\/2026\/09\/24\/whats-new-in-r2026b\/","title":{"rendered":"What’s New in R2026b?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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MATLAB R2026b is now available. Here are my favorite enhancements.<\/span><\/div>

Published Referenced Models<\/span><\/h2>
In R2026b, you will notice a new <\/span>Publish<\/span> button in the Simulink toolstrip:<\/span><\/div>
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When publishing a model, a new SLXP file is created. This file contains a precompiled, ready-to-run version of the model. As a result, models that reference a published model can initialize quickly by skipping <\/span>rebuild checks<\/span><\/a> and using the precompiled version in the SLXP file.<\/span><\/div>
Publishing can also be done programmatically using <\/span>publishmodel<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/div>
A Model block that references a published model displays a new badge:<\/span><\/div>
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MATLAB Project definition file<\/span><\/h2>
This enhancement is not specific to Simulink, but I expect many Simulink users to like it. <\/span><\/div>
Before R2026b, MATLAB projects stored project definition information in many XML files in a resources folder. This made the metadata difficult to inspect and added noise to source-control diffs. In R2026b, you can instead store this information in a single, human-readable <\/span>matlab.toml<\/span> file at the top level of the project.<\/span><\/div>
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This is controlled in the MATLAB settings:<\/span><\/div>
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If you want to convert an existing project, you can execute:<\/span><\/div>
matlab.project.convertDefinitionFiles(pwd,matlab.project.DefinitionFiles.Toml)<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>

Save Simulink Data Dictionaries in JSON format<\/span><\/h2>
Before R2026b, Simulink Data Dictionary files were saved in a binary format. In R2026b, we are adding an option to save data dictionaries as an uncompressed text file in a JSON format. Many users may not notice a difference in their day-to-day workflows, but for teams using Git, this option should help keep repository sizes manageable and simplify diff workflows.<\/span><\/div>
The data dictionary format is also controlled from the MATLAB settings:<\/span><\/div>
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Simulink comparison results available at the MATLAB Command Prompt<\/span><\/h2>
When calling <\/span>visdiff<\/span><\/a> on two Simulink models, the output now contains a table with all the changes.<\/span><\/div>
result = visdiff(<\/span>'vdp1.slx'<\/span>,<\/span>'vdp2.slx'<\/span>);<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
result.Result.Matches<\/span><\/span><\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div>
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ans = <\/span>14\u00d76 table <\/span><\/div>
<\/span><\/th>LeftPath<\/span><\/th>RightPath<\/span><\/th>ChangeType<\/span><\/th>Details<\/span><\/th>LeftObject<\/span><\/th>RightObject<\/span><\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
1<\/span><\/th>\"Simulink\"<\/span><\/td>\"Simulink\"<\/span><\/td>\"unchanged\"<\/span><\/td>1\u00d71 struct<\/span><\/td>1\u00d71 SimulinkObject (model)<\/span><\/td>1\u00d71 SimulinkObject (model)<\/span><\/td><\/tr>
2<\/span><\/th>[\"Simulink\", \"Scope\"]<\/span><\/td><missing><\/span><\/td>\"deleted\"<\/span><\/td>1\u00d71 struct<\/span><\/td>1\u00d71 SimulinkObject (Scope Block)<\/span><\/td><missing><\/span><\/td><\/tr>
3<\/span><\/th><missing><\/span><\/td>[\"Simulink\", \"Out3\"]<\/span><\/td>\"inserted\"<\/span><\/td>1\u00d71 struct<\/span><\/td><missing><\/span><\/td>1\u00d71 SimulinkObject (Outport Block)<\/span><\/td><\/tr>
4<\/span><\/th>[\"Simulink\", \"Mu\"]<\/span><\/td>[\"Simulink\", \"Mu\"]<\/span><\/td>\"modified\"<\/span><\/td>1\u00d71 struct<\/span><\/td>1\u00d71 SimulinkObject (SubSystem Block)<\/span><\/td>1\u00d71 SimulinkObject (SubSystem Block)<\/span><\/td><\/tr>
5<\/span><\/th>[\"Simulink\", \"Product:1 -> Mu:1\"]<\/span><\/td>[\"Simulink\", \"Product:1 -> 2 Destinations\"]<\/span><\/td>\"modified\"<\/span><\/td>1\u00d71 struct<\/span><\/td><missing><\/span><\/td><missing><\/span><\/td><\/tr>
6<\/span><\/th><missing><\/span><\/td>[\"Simulink\", \"Product:1 -> 2 Destinations\", \"Branch -> Mu:1\"]<\/span><\/td>\"inserted\"<\/span><\/td>1\u00d71 struct<\/span><\/td><missing><\/span><\/td>1\u00d71 SimulinkObject (line)<\/span><\/td><\/tr>
7<\/span><\/th><missing><\/span><\/td>[\"Simulink\", \"Product:1 -> 2 Destinations\", \"Branch -> Out3:1\"]<\/span><\/td>\"inserted\"<\/span><\/td>1\u00d71 struct<\/span><\/td><missing><\/span><\/td>1\u00d71 SimulinkObject (line)<\/span><\/td><\/tr>
8<\/span><\/th>[\"Simulink\", \"Product:1 -> Mu:1\", \"Product:1 -> Mu:1\"]<\/span><\/td>[\"Simulink\", \"Product:1 -> 2 Destinations\", \"Product:1 -> Branch\"]<\/span><\/td>\"modified\"<\/span><\/td>1\u00d71 struct<\/span><\/td>1\u00d71 SimulinkObject (line)<\/span><\/td>1\u00d71 SimulinkObject (line)<\/span><\/td><\/tr>
9<\/span><\/th>[\"Simulink\", \"x1:x1 -> 4 Destinations\"]<\/span><\/td>[\"Simulink\", \"x1:x1 -> 3 Destinations\"]<\/span><\/td>\"modified\"<\/span><\/td>1\u00d71 struct<\/span><\/td><missing><\/span><\/td><missing><\/span><\/td><\/tr>
10<\/span><\/th>[\"Simulink\", \"x1:x1 -> 4 Destinations\", \"Branch -> Branch\"]<\/span><\/td><missing><\/span><\/td>\"deleted\"<\/span><\/td>1\u00d71 struct<\/span><\/td>1\u00d71 SimulinkObject (line)<\/span><\/td><missing><\/span><\/td><\/tr>
11<\/span><\/th>[\"Simulink\", \"x1:x1 -> 4 Destinations\", \"Branch -> Scope:1\"]<\/span><\/td><missing><\/span><\/td>\"deleted\"<\/span><\/td>1\u00d71 struct<\/span><\/td>1\u00d71 SimulinkObject (line)<\/span><\/td><missing><\/span><\/td><\/tr>
12<\/span><\/th>[\"Simulink\", \"x2:x2 -> 4 Destinations\"]<\/span><\/td>[\"Simulink\", \"x2:x2 -> 3 Destinations\"]<\/span><\/td>\"modified\"<\/span><\/td>1\u00d71 struct<\/span><\/td><missing><\/span><\/td><missing><\/span><\/td><\/tr>
13<\/span><\/th>[\"Simulink\", \"x2:x2 -> 4 Destinations\", \"Branch -> Branch\"]<\/span><\/td><missing><\/span><\/td>\"deleted\"<\/span><\/td>1\u00d71 struct<\/span><\/td>1\u00d71 SimulinkObject (line)<\/span><\/td><missing><\/span><\/td><\/tr>
14<\/span><\/th>[\"Simulink\", \"x2:x2 -> 4 Destinations\", \"Branch -> Scope:2\"]<\/span><\/td><missing><\/span><\/td>\"deleted\"<\/span><\/td>1\u00d71 struct<\/span><\/td>1\u00d71 SimulinkObject (line)<\/span><\/td><missing><\/span><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
This is especially useful when using a coding agent connected to MATLAB through the MCP server. Here is an example where I asked <\/span>Codex CLI<\/span><\/a> to summarize the above changes:<\/span><\/div>
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Tabs in Simulation Data Inspector<\/span><\/h2>
The Simulation Data Inspector now has tabs, making it easier to organize and view large number of signals.<\/span><\/div>
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Custom Simulink Solvers<\/span><\/h2>
It is now possible to write your own solver for Simulink models. This can potentially improve speed and\/or accuracy when dealing with specialized sets of equations that could be solved more efficiently using special solver algorithms not included with Simulink.<\/span><\/div>
See this example: <\/span>Implement Stabilized Variable-Step Plugin Solver Using Chebyshev Polynomials - MATLAB & Simulink<\/span><\/a><\/div>
This feature is also useful if you want to impress your friends and colleagues by having your name appear in the list of solvers available in Simulink!<\/span><\/div>
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Now it's your turn<\/span><\/h2>
Go through the <\/span>Simulink release notes<\/span><\/a> and let us know your favorite enhancements and which topics you would like to see covered in more detail on this blog.<\/span><\/div>\r\n
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