So installing Respawn's next patch won't help. You need to update the driver.
What was announced
According to Happy Gamer, which reproduced the Steam post, the Apex team wrote that "AMD has rolled out a new mainline driver update that resolves crashes for players with 9070 series GPUs in Apex," and asked players to "ensure you are on the latest version." Happy Gamer also reports that the post linked to AMD's release notes, article number RN-RAD-WIN-26-10-1.
French outlet jeu.video reported the same announcement and said the post linked to the release notes for Adrenalin Edition 26.10.1. The two reports describe one announcement, not two separate fixes.
The key points:
- Who it affects: players using Radeon 9070-series GPUs, according to the Apex team.
- What fixes it: a mainline AMD Radeon driver. The game team linked Adrenalin 26.10.1.
- What it isn't: neither report mentions an Apex client update released at the same time.
- What's missing: the post doesn't name the specific 9070 models, the driver version that caused the crashes, any error codes, or how often the crashes happened.
In short: Apex's team says the crash fix is in AMD's driver, and 26.10.1 is the version it linked.
AMD's notes don't mention Apex
AMD's own 26.10.1 release notes don't name Apex Legends anywhere: not under new game support and not under fixed issues. The only credit for the Apex fix comes from the game team.
The notes do confirm the basics. The document is titled "AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 26.10.1 Driver Release Notes," with Article Number: RN-RAD-WIN-26-10-1. Last Updated: October 20th, 2026. As jeu.video points out, that's the date the page was last revised, which isn't necessarily the date the driver first shipped.
The headline items are about other things. TechPowerUp reports that AMD has released its Adrenalin 26.10.1 WHQL graphics drivers, adding FSR Upscaling 4.1 support for Radeon RX 6000 series graphics cards and several Ryzen AI processor families. The drivers also add support for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, STAR WARS: Galactic Racer, and FINAL FANTASY RESONANCE. The only fix AMD lists is for stuttering may be observed while playing the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 on Radeon RX 6000 series graphics products and above.
It's not unusual for a game studio to know about a driver fix that never makes the release notes. Still, nobody has independently tested this one. "Resolves crashes" is the Apex team's claim, and jeu.video notes the announcement doesn't show that every stability problem in every Apex setup is gone.
In short: the Apex team vouches for the fix; AMD's notes only confirm the driver version, the supported hardware and the other changes.
Compatibility before you install
According to jeu.video's reading of the release notes, AMD lists RX 9070-series GPUs as compatible with 26.10.1. The driver supports Windows 11 and 64-bit Windows 10, version 21H2 or later, and AMD notes that support can vary by Radeon product. Many other Radeon families are on the compatibility list too, but that only means the driver supports them. It doesn't mean the Apex crash affected those cards or that the fix applies to them.
On version numbers, VideoCardz lists AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 26.10.1 Driver Version 26.20.15.07 for Windows® 10 and Windows® 11 (Windows Driver Store Version 32.0.32015.7029). VideoCardz also lists a second package with a different version number, so check against your own GPU's download page instead of relying on one number.
Known issues RX 9000 owners should read
A new driver can fix one game and still have problems in others. 26.10.1 has several known issues that affect RX 9000-series cards. None of them involve Apex, but they matter if you play other games on the same PC:
- Frame generation and overlays: Intermittent system crash or hang may be observed when switching between applications or toggling overlays while playing games with in-game AMD FSR Frame Generation enabled on Radeon™ RX 9000 series graphics products. Users experiencing this issue are recommended to enable V-Sync in game settings.
- Cyberpunk 2077: per Guru3D, the game may crash or time out on some RX 9000 Series products when FSR Upscaling, Radeon Anti-Lag and in-game frame generation are enabled while video plays on a secondary display. AMD's workaround is to disable in-game frame generation.
- Death Stranding 2: On RX 9000 Series cards, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach may hang with FSR enabled, so AMD recommends disabling the upscaler.
- Overlays generally: The driver notes further warn of possible crashes or timeouts when opening or closing overlays while the Adrenalin Performance Metrics Overlay is active. AMD recommends disabling its metrics overlay temporarily before using another overlay.
- Windows 10 users: AMD Smart Access Memory may become disabled after driver installation on Windows® 10 systems. After updating, check that it's still on.
If Apex still crashes after the update and you use frame generation, the Adrenalin metrics overlay, or a second monitor playing video, keep those known issues in mind. To be clear, though, AMD has not linked any of them to Apex.
In short: 26.10.1 has known bugs elsewhere. RX 9000 owners should read the list, and Windows 10 users should confirm Smart Access Memory is still enabled.
What to do
The Apex team's advice is simple: get on the latest AMD driver. Here's how to do that without guessing:
- Check your installed version. In Windows Device Manager, expand Display adapters, open your Radeon card's properties and look at the Driver tab, or check the version shown in AMD Software. If you're already on 26.10.1 or newer, you're done.
- Confirm your setup is supported. You need an RX 9070-series card and Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit), version 21H2 or later.
- Install 26.10.1. Use AMD Software's update check or AMD's official download page, and follow AMD's installation instructions. Neither the announcement nor the news reports give step-by-step install instructions, and you don't need special tricks.
- Restart Apex and play a few matches to see whether the crashes have stopped.
- If you need to roll back, for example because the new driver causes problems in another game, AMD recommends running its AMD Cleanup Utility before installing an older Adrenalin version. The Apex team itself only advised upgrading.
- Still crashing? The announcement doesn't cover that. Happy Gamer suggests reporting it on the Apex community hub on Steam, and AMD's own support channels are the other option.
Why a driver fix makes sense
Game crashes don't always come from the game's code. Sometimes the problem is how the driver handles a particular game on a particular GPU, and then only the GPU vendor can fix it. Apex launched on Steam in November 2020, according to Happy Gamer, so it's an older game running on AMD's newest RDNA 4 cards. Problems like that between an established game and new hardware are often fixed on the driver side.
The open question is why AMD left the fix out of its notes. Maybe AMD considered it a minor change, or maybe it was part of a wider stability fix. Either way, players have one party's word that the crash is fixed, and it isn't the party that wrote the driver.
Bottom line
If you play Apex on an RX 9070-series card, update to Adrenalin 26.10.1 or newer. It's free and it's what the developers recommend. The fix is in the driver, not the game, and AMD's notes don't mention Apex at all, so the claim rests on the Apex team alone. Read AMD's known-issues list before you install, especially if you use FSR frame generation or are on Windows 10.