Next.js 16 (October 2025) made Partial Prerendering production via "Cache Components" with dynamic-by-default semantics

Claim: Next.js 16 (released October 2025) shipped:

• Cache Components / PPR is now the default story: everything is dynamic by default, caching is opt-in via the "use cache" directive with cacheLife / cacheTag.
• Turbopack is the default dev bundler (production builds still in beta).
• middleware.ts renamed to proxy.ts.
• React Compiler 1.0 stable opt-in (not enabled by default).

Source: nextjs.org/blog/next-16.

Confidence: Verified.

Migration implication: Migrating from 14/15 to 16 requires a deliberate audit, not an npm upgrade. RSC footguns (client/server boundary placement, cookie handling on server fetches, waterfall fetches inside Server Components) all persist.

For Candid: Next.js 16 is not the default for marketing sites. Cache Components solves problems most SMB sites don't have, and "everything dynamic by default" adds cognitive load for brochure work. See RULE: Default stack for new marketing-site work is Astro 5/6 + Tailwind v4 on Cloudflare Pages.