: You can now disable "swatch generation" (those tiny thumbnail previews) to speed up performance when loading many high-resolution textures.

: The update made it easier to manage complex scenes by allowing you to display only selected render layers, reducing clutter when working with massive environments. Performance Improvements :

: You can perform region rendering, debug shading, and isolate specific objects directly within the Maya viewport. It also supports displaying AOVs (Arbitrary Output Variables) like depth or motion vectors in real-time.

: Animators gained the ability to override the default colors that Maya assigns to a character's skeleton when using the Bake Deformer tool. Did You Know?

: A small but helpful workflow tweak ensured that your custom settings for the UV Editor now stay saved even after you restart the software.

The 2018 release cycle marked Maya's full transition to as the primary display engine, officially deprecating the "Legacy" viewports that had been part of the software for decades. Autodesk ships Maya 2018.4 and Maya LT 2018.4 - CG Channel