Mate References have existed for a decade, but they were fragile. If you changed a part's face ID, the mate reference broke silently. In 2022, "Mate References" now support "Mature Reference Tags"—persistent IDs that survive feature reordering and face changes. You can now build "smart components" (e.g., a hinge) that automatically mate correctly when inserted, even after the part has been revised five times.
While marketing lists dozens of "new features," experienced users gravitate to a few game-changers in 2022: solidworks 2022
You can now apply temperature loads directly to curved faces using a "heat flux per area" distribution curve. For electronics cooling, this allows realistic modeling of chips that are hotter in the center and cooler at the edges. Mate References have existed for a decade, but