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Here are the notable launches and updates from last week that can help you build, scale, and innovate on AWS.
Last week’s launches
Here are the launches that got my attention this week.
Let’s start with news related to compute and networking infrastructure:
- Introducing Amazon EC2 C8id, M8id, and R8id instances: These new Amazon EC2 C8id, M8id, and R8id instances are powered by custom Intel Xeon 6 processors. These instances offer up to 43% higher performance and 3.3x more memory bandwidth compared to previous generation instances.
- AWS Network Firewall announces new price reductions: The service has added the hourly and data processing discounts on NAT Gateways that are service-chained with Network Firewall secondary endpoints. Additionally, AWS Network Firewall has removed additional data processing charges for Advanced Inspection, which enables Transport Layer Security (TLS) inspection of encrypted network traffic.
- Amazon ECS adds Network Load Balancer support for Linear and Canary deployments: Applications that commonly use NLB, such as those requiring TCP/UDP-based connections, low latency, long-lived connections, or static IP addresses, can take advantage of managed, incremental traffic shifting natively from ECS when rolling out updates.
- AWS Config now supports 30 new resource types: These range across key services including Amazon EKS, Amazon Q, and AWS IoT. This expansion provides greater coverage over your AWS environment, enabling you to more effectively discover, assess, audit, and remediate an even broader range of resources.
- Amazon DynamoDB global tables now support replication across multiple AWS accounts: DynamoDB global tables are a fully managed, serverless, multi-Region, and multi-active database. With this new capability, you can replicate tables across AWS accounts and Regions to improve resiliency, isolate workloads at the account level, and apply distinct security and governance controls.
- Amazon RDS now provides an enhanced console experience to connect to a database: The new console experience provides ready-made code snippets for Java, Python, Node.js, and other programming languages as well as tools like the
psqlcommand line utility. These code snippets are automatically adjusted based on your database’s authentication settings. For example, if your cluster uses IAM authentication, the generated code snippets will use token-based authentication to connect to the database. The console experience also includes integrated CloudShell access, offering the ability to connect to your databases directly from within the RDS console.
Then, I noticed three news items related to security and how you authenticate on AWS:
- AWS Builder ID now supports Sign in with Apple: AWS Builder ID, your profile for accessing AWS applications including AWS Builder Center, AWS Training and Certification, AWS re:Post, AWS Startups, and Kiro, now supports sign-in with Apple as a social login provider. This expansion of sign-in options builds on the existing sign-in with Google capability, providing Apple users with a streamlined way to access AWS resources without managing separate credentials on AWS.
- AWS STS now supports validation of select identity provider specific claims from Google, GitHub, CircleCI and OCI: You can reference these custom claims as condition keys in IAM role trust policies and resource control policies, expanding your ability to implement fine-grained access control for federated identities and help you establish your data perimeters. This enhancement builds upon IAM’s existing OIDC federation capabilities, which allow you to grant temporary AWS credentials to users authenticated through external OIDC-compatible identity providers.
- AWS Management Console now displays Account Name on the Navigation bar for easier account identification: You now have an easy way to identify your accounts at a glance. You can now quickly distinguish between accounts visually using the account name that appears in the navigation bar for all authorized users in that account.
- Amazon CloudFront announces mutual TLS support for origins: Now with origin mTLS support, you can implement a standardized, certificate-based authentication approach that eliminates operational burden. This enables organizations to enforce strict authentication for their proprietary content, ensuring that only verified CloudFront distributions can establish connections to backend infrastructure ranging from AWS origins and on-premises servers to third-party cloud providers and external CDNs.
Finally, there is not a single week without news around AI :
- Claude Opus 4.6 now available in Amazon Bedrock: Opus 4.6 is Anthropic’s most intelligent model to date and a premier model for coding, enterprise agents, and professional work. Claude Opus 4.6 brings advanced capabilities to Amazon Bedrock customers, including industry-leading performance for agentic tasks, complex coding projects, and enterprise-grade workflows that require deep reasoning and reliability.
- Structured outputs now available in Amazon Bedrock: Amazon Bedrock now supports structured outputs, a capability that provides consistent, machine-readable responses from foundation models that adhere to your defined JSON schemas. Instead of prompting for valid JSON and adding extra checks in your application, you can specify the format you want and receive responses that match it—making production workflows more predictable and resilient.
Upcoming AWS events
Check your calendars so that you can sign up for this upcoming event:
AWS Community Day Romania (April 23–24, 2026): This community-led AWS event brings together developers, architects, entrepreneurs, and students for more than 10 professional sessions delivered by AWS Heroes, Solutions Architects, and industry experts. Attendees can expect expert-led technical talks, insights from speakers with global conference experience, and opportunities to connect during dedicated networking breaks, all hosted at a premium venue designed to support collaboration and community engagement.
If you’re looking for more ways to stay connected beyond this event, join the AWS Builder Center to learn, build, and connect with builders in the AWS community.
Check back next Monday for another Weekly Roundup.
