September 23, 2026: the first beta patch week opens with a client build, not a blog post. Blizzard pushed WoW Forever 1.60.1 build 69977 to testers (US and EU blue posts, Sep 22-23), with a three-item fix list (full blue, via Icy Veins Starym): Mac display and stability issues, controller navigation in the character-selection screen (when launching with the gamepad active), and gamepad interaction with items that grant quests. The build also carries untestable fixes, and the next full weekly update is due September 24.
The Mac line matters because it was the one platform thread with no workaround (workarounds): macOS players crashed on launch with nothing to try. That entry is now officially addressed, test-and-report rather than troubled-and-waiting. A companion dev reply on a detailed 8-bug Mac graphics thread says multiple analyses and potential fixes are underway, crediting player repro steps. The controller fixes land one week after the BlizzCon hands-on flagged pad support as alpha, and the quest-item interaction line matters for the Zephras start, where pickup quests are the first thing a pad-only player touches.
Separately hotfixed (Sep 22): the quest A Firm Response no longer strands Windshaper Skyborne on Zephras Isle at Belathaan Brightwish near the Shrine of Akir. Two more threads (duplicate-name errors, login-stuck characters) are in info-gathering, not fixed.
Still open and conspicuous at the time: the suspected memory leak behind hour-long FPS decay had no acknowledgment anywhere in this round. Fixes were landing same-week; that one was not among them yet.
Update September 25: Blizzard's official September 24 development notes now list a fix for a memory leak causing gradual performance degradation. The old unacknowledged status is superseded, but players should retest before assuming the fix resolves every FPS problem.
SOURCES: Blizzard blue post US 2358655 (full text via Icy Veins Starym, Sep 23) and Tavern blue tracker RSS (EU 630815, US 2358655, EU 630568, US 2353697, US 2354050; Sep 22-23).