linux-drivers/
drivers/gpu/drm/msm/disp/dpu1

Qualcomm Snapdragon DPU display controllers (SDM845 and newer)

The display processing unit inside Qualcomm Snapdragon mobile, compute, and automotive SoCs from roughly 2018 onward, driving panels on Android phones and tablets, Snapdragon-powered Windows-on-ARM laptops, and Qualcomm automotive infotainment. It handles composition, scaling, and output to MIPI-DSI, DisplayPort, or HDMI encoders.

keep conf=0.96 deploy=high replacement=none subsystem=gpu category=graphics-display
96%

recommendation

It should stay because this is the active in-tree display engine for every modern Qualcomm Snapdragon SoC from SDM845 onward, including the chips powering Android phones, Snapdragon X Elite laptops, and automotive parts like SA8775P that are still shipping in 2025. The code is under heavy ongoing development, with new platform enablement (such as Kaanapali) and bug fixes landing as recently as early 2026, and there is no replacement driver on the horizon.

repository signals

92 files
36,924 source lines
968 commits, 5y
+35,165 / −23,876 lines added / removed, 5y
95 authors, 5y
monthly commits · 2021-04-21 → 2026-04-21 · 968 total · active in 60/61 months
2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2021-04: 11 commits · +138 −118 2021-05: 15 commits · +389 −2,185 2021-06: 7 commits · +345 −521 2021-07: 3 commits · +68 −56 2021-08: 3 commits · +15 −20 2021-09: 12 commits · +191 −199 2021-10: 9 commits · +320 −68 2021-11: 6 commits · +29 −51 2021-12: 20 commits · +344 −351 2022-01: 10 commits · +374 −209 2022-02: 41 commits · +880 −1,141 2022-03: 1 commit · +8 −0 2022-04: 39 commits · +2,919 −540 2022-05: 15 commits · +40 −50 2022-06: 31 commits · +723 −651 2022-07: 5 commits · +68 −55 2022-08: 3 commits · +2 −12 2022-09: 3 commits · +31 −16 2022-10: 3 commits · +11 −25 2022-11: 6 commits · +103 −11 2022-12: 16 commits · +796 −64 2023-01: 20 commits · +431 −237 2023-02: 20 commits · +111 −158 2023-03: 43 commits · +1,107 −1,156 2023-04: 79 commits · +4,438 −3,860 2023-05: 33 commits · +873 −475 2023-06: 22 commits · +587 −310 2023-07: 49 commits · +4,113 −2,263 2023-08: 17 commits · +291 −399 2023-09: 13 commits · +115 −110 2023-10: 15 commits · +846 −220 2023-11: 1 commit · +12 −2 2023-12: 58 commits · +1,741 −1,174 2024-01: 1 commit · +2 −2 2024-02: 26 commits · +1,751 −425 2024-03: 3 commits · +40 −12 2024-04: 14 commits · +515 −1,252 2024-05: 8 commits · +102 −36 2024-06: 13 commits · +461 −109 2024-07: 1 commit · +2 −2 2024-08: 2 commits · +74 −18 2024-09: 23 commits · +1,303 −346 2024-10: 12 commits · +684 −157 2024-11: 3 commits · +512 −545 2024-12: 27 commits · +1,111 −175 2025-01: 9 commits · +145 −79 2025-02: 32 commits · +935 −482 2025-03: 23 commits · +163 −195 2025-04: 17 commits · +665 −126 2025-05: 34 commits · +389 −924 2025-06: 10 commits · +944 −107 2025-07: 7 commits · +30 −28 2025-08: 6 commits · +34 −20 2025-09: 12 commits · +426 −292 2025-10: 10 commits · +727 −32 2025-11: 4 commits · +106 −1,285 2025-12: 20 commits · +284 −311 2026-01: 13 commits · +1,263 −138 2026-02: 4 commits · +25 −49 2026-03: 1 commit · +2 −2 2026-04: 0 commits · +0 −0

sources

  1. spinics.net

    Patch traffic for this directory was still active in March 2026, with a fix posted for SA8775P DPU catalog data under drivers/gpu/drm/msm/disp/dpu1.

  2. spinics.net

    New hardware enablement was still being added in late 2025: Kaanapali DPU support touched dpu1 catalog and KMS files.

  3. cateee.net

    LKDDb describes CONFIG_DRM_MSM_DPU as the MSM DRM DPU support for SDM845 and newer platforms and lists many current SoC compatibles, including qcom,kaanapali-dpu in HEAD.

  4. qualcomm.com

    Qualcomm was still launching new Snapdragon mobile platforms in late 2024 with commercial devices from many OEMs, supporting the conclusion that this display-controller family remained in new products through 2025.

  5. qualcomm.com

    Qualcomm announced Snapdragon X Elite/X Plus PCs from major OEMs shipping in 2024, showing the broader Snapdragon hardware ecosystem covered by msm display support remained in active new deployment entering 2025.

codex reasoning notes (technical)

Local exec_command review of drivers/gpu/drm/msm/Kconfig shows DRM_MSM_DPU is the active MSM DPU path for 'SDM845 and newer platforms'; local git log for this directory shows frequent substantive fixes and feature work through 2026-03-12, including Kaanapali support and SA8775P fixes. URL evidence was obtained via web search: turn1search1 for late-2025 Kaanapali enablement, turn0search4 for the March-2026 SA8775P fix thread, turn3search0 for LKDDb coverage of many current compatibles, and turn2search0 plus turn2search4 for Qualcomm product-launch evidence that Snapdragon devices were still shipping new in/into 2025. No natural replacement driver exists: dpu1 is the current upstream display-engine implementation inside drm/msm for this hardware family. Targeted search did not surface an active removal series, and the observed traffic is clearly maintenance plus new-platform enablement, so removal or deprecation is not justified.