What's the difference between Unity LTS and Unity latest version?

Question

As of this writing Unity has a version called Unity LTS 2017.4.12f1 and the latest version of Unity is 2018.2.11

I understand that Unity LTS is supposed to be a stable version but does that mean Unity 2018 is not stable? How long until Unity LTS is available with 2018 features? Will these 2 versions every coincide? Is Unity 2018 mostly just for testing out new features while LTS is for creating apps?

Answer 1

Unity LTS not necessarily means that it is the latest stable version. It just means that the version is backed up with a Long Term Support (LTS).

Answer 2

From Unity's website (2022)

Long-Term Support (LTS)

The release for creators who value maximum stability and support for their next project, LTS rolls up the features and improvements made across the year into a single installation. This is our default release, and it’s recommended for creators who are about to lock in production on a specific version of Unity.

Tech Stream

Tech Stream is for creators who value getting earlier access to new features in order to prepare for future projects. These versions are primarily recommended for the preproduction, discovery, and prototyping phases of development, but they can be used to get ready for the next LTS by enabling earlier feature adoption.

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Original post

Both versions can be used for creating apps, the choice depends on your project. The benefit of LTS is that there is extended support, so you can receive Unity fixes for a longer period of time without having to upgrade Unity versions.

This extended support is helpful for some projects because updating a project to a new version of Unity does take work. In particular, testing & fixing regression bugs and dealing with deprecated code & plugins can be a significant amount of work.

As an example, in our project, we decided to go with the TECH stream because we benefit from using new Unity features and our app is an on-going updated app that will continue to be updated for more than 2 years.

In other projects & contexts, it may make sense to go with LTS with the 2-year support. The effort of keeping up-to-date with the latest Unity version may not be worth having the latest Unity TECH stream features. It also likely makes sense to lock onto an LTS version as a project nears its release date.

According to a Unity blog post:

Who is the LTS stream intended for?

The LTS stream is for users who wish to continue to develop and ship their games/content and stay on a stable version for an extended period.

Who is the TECH stream intended for?

The TECH stream is for anyone who wants to use the latest features and those who want to be up-to-date with the latest Unity is offering.

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Unity LTS will be available with 2018 features at end of the year, when Unity LTS 2018 is released in early 2019.

(Image source)

They don't ever coincide in versions exactly, but the LTS version is the previous TECH release with fixes and slight improvements (but no new features). E.g. 2017.3 TECH and 2017.4 LTS are pretty close together.