PHP 7.1 was released last week. It has many nice new features. If you're anything like me, you want to use the latest version right way. Upgrading to PHP 7.1 is not that difficult. Personally I use homebrew. The steps required to upgrade from 7.0 are laughably simple.

Just issue this command in your terminal:

brew tap homebrew/dupes
brew tap homebrew/versions
brew tap homebrew/homebrew-php
brew install php71

Boom, done. If you need xdebug or imagick homebrew has got your back too:

brew install php71-xdebug
brew install homebrew/php/php71-imagick

Not a fan of homebrew? No problem. PHP 7.1 can also easily be installed via this script on liip.ch:

curl -s https://php-osx.liip.ch/install.sh | bash -s 7.1

If you want to upgrade your Homestead box to 7.1 Joe Ferguson has done all the heavy lifting for you. Check his blogpost for detailed instructions.

Feeling ready to use 7.1 in your production environment? Go over this guide by Colin O'Dell on how to install 7.1 on various operating systems.

If you are, like me, a Forge user, you probably know that PHP 7.1 is already the default when provisioning a new server. And it looks like Forge will be able upgrade your PHP 7.0 to 7.1 with a click of a button in the near future.

@vmitchell85 @freekmurze we are working on that :)

— Laravel (@laravelphp) 6 december 2016