Gemini 3.5 Release Date & What's New: Flash Shipped, Pro Delayed (2026)
Quick answer. Gemini 3.5 is real, but only half of it shipped. Gemini 3.5 Flash went GA on May 19, 2026 at $1.50/$9 per 1M tokens, followed by 3.5 Flash-Lite and 3.6 Flash (July 21) and Gemini 3.7 Flash (August 13). Gemini 3.5 Pro never launched — promised for June, it has been delayed indefinitely over coding performance. As of August 2026, run 3.7 Flash for most work and Gemini 3.1 Pro for Pro-class API needs.
If you searched for “Gemini 3.5 release date” or “what’s new in Gemini 3.5,” the honest answer has two halves. The Flash half shipped — repeatedly. The Pro half didn’t, and as of August 20, 2026 Google still hasn’t given it a date. This page is the status/timeline record for the whole Gemini 3.5 family: exactly what launched, exactly what got delayed, and what you should actually be calling in the API today.
Is Gemini 3.5 released yet?
Partially. Here is the family status as of August 20, 2026:
- Gemini 3.5 Flash — released. GA on May 19, 2026, day one across the Gemini app, Search AI Mode, Antigravity, the Gemini API, AI Studio, Android Studio, and Gemini Enterprise. API model ID
gemini-3.5-flash. Pricing: $1.50 input / $9.00 output per 1M tokens. - Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite — released. July 21, 2026, at $0.30/$2.50 per 1M tokens, running around 350 tokens/second.
- Gemini 3.5 Flash Cyber — limited access. Announced July 21, 2026: a cybersecurity fine-tune of 3.5 Flash inside the CodeMender agent framework, available only as a pilot for governments and trusted partners.
- Gemini 3.5 Pro — NOT released. Announced at I/O on May 19 with a “next month” promise, then delayed past June, then delayed indefinitely. There is still no
gemini-3.5-promodel ID anywhere, no model card, and no pricing.
And the family didn’t stop at 3.5: Gemini 3.6 Flash shipped July 21 and Gemini 3.7 Flash shipped August 13 — both at an introductory $0.75/$3.75 per 1M tokens. Google’s big-model story in the summer of 2026 is a monthly Flash cadence, while the Pro flagship remains Gemini 3.1 Pro (preview) from February.
What is the full Gemini 3.5 release timeline?
| Date (2026) | What happened |
|---|---|
| May 19 | Gemini 3.5 Flash GA everywhere day one. Gemini Spark (a persistent personal agent on 3.5 Flash) announced for trusted testers. Google: 3.5 Pro is “already being used internally, and we look forward to rolling it out next month.” |
| June 25 | Business Insider reports the Gemini 3.5 Pro release has slipped to July. |
| July 16 | CNBC: Alphabet shares fall on the Gemini 3.5 Pro delay. Bloomberg reports Google is “taking time to try to improve [3.5 Pro’s] capabilities, particularly in coding” after late-June training runs “yielded disappointing results.” No new date given. |
| July 21 | Gemini 3.6 Flash (intro $0.75/$3.75), 3.5 Flash-Lite ($0.30/$2.50), and 3.5 Flash Cyber (limited pilot) launch. On Pro: “currently testing with partners and we plan to make it broadly available as soon as it’s ready.” |
| August 13 | Gemini 3.7 Flash launches — “our most intelligent workhorse model yet for coding and agents.” Gemini Spark expands to Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers in 160+ countries. No Pro mention. |
Nothing else in the 3.5 line has shipped in this window, and no Gemini model — 3.5 or otherwise — currently offers the 2M-token context that early 3.5 Pro speculation promised. Gemini 3.1 Pro and 3.7 Flash are both 1M-token models.
What’s new in the Gemini 3.5 Flash line?
Gemini 3.5 Flash was a genuine frontier-grade Flash release: 1M-token context, full multimodal input, and day-one availability across every Google surface. The catch was the price. At $1.50/$9.00 per 1M tokens it landed roughly 3x higher than its Flash predecessor, and the developer community read it as mispriced.
Google’s answer came fast. Gemini 3.6 Flash (July 21) improved coding benchmarks (DeepSWE 49% vs 37%, Google self-reported) while producing 17% fewer output tokens — and launched with “introductory pricing” at $0.75/$3.75 through December 31, 2026, half of 3.5 Flash’s rate. Gemini 3.7 Flash (August 13) kept that intro price and pushed further: an Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index of 56 (up from 3.6’s 52), and — on Google’s own published benchmarks — scores that beat its Pro line. The practitioner consensus as of August 2026 is blunt: Flash is better than Pro for now.
The net effect is awkward for 3.5 Flash itself: it is now the most expensive and least capable of the current Flash trio. If you adopted it in May, moving to 3.7 Flash is a price cut and an upgrade in one change. Full specs, benchmarks, and migration notes in our Gemini 3.7 Flash launch guide.
Note the intro-pricing fine print: both 3.6 and 3.7 Flash revert to $1.50/$7.50 per 1M tokens on January 1, 2027. Budget against the standard rate, not the promo.
What happened to Gemini 3.5 Pro?
It missed its window, publicly. The promise trail:
- May 19: announced at I/O — in internal use, “rolling it out next month.”
- Late June: the June target passes; Business Insider reports a slip to July.
- July 16: Bloomberg and CNBC report the delay is about coding performance — late-June training runs with updated data yielded disappointing results. Alphabet’s stock dipped on the news.
- July 21: Google’s official line softens to “as soon as it’s ready,” with no date.
- August 13: Google ships 3.7 Flash instead, with no mention of Pro.
As of August 20, 2026: no API model ID, no model card, no pricing, no date. The Pro tier you can actually call remains Gemini 3.1 Pro (preview) at $2/$12 per 1M tokens (up to 200K context; $4/$18 above that). For the full delay analysis and what to use in Pro’s place, see our Gemini 3.5 Pro status page.
Which Gemini model should you use today?
The current, real, callable lineup as of August 2026:
| Model | Price ($/1M in / out) | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Gemini 3.7 Flash | $0.75 / $3.75 (intro; $1.50/$7.50 from Jan 2027) | Default choice — coding, agents, high-volume multimodal work |
| Gemini 3.6 Flash | $0.75 / $3.75 (intro) | Same tier as 3.7; use 3.7 unless you have a pinned dependency |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | $1.50 / $9.00 | Legacy — worst value in the family; migrate to 3.7 |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite | $0.30 / $2.50 | Cheapest tier, ~350 tok/s for latency-sensitive bulk work |
| Gemini 3.1 Pro (preview) | $2.00 / $12.00 (≤200K) | Pro-class API needs while 3.5 Pro remains unreleased |
The one-line recommendation: Google’s best available model as of August 2026 is Gemini 3.7 Flash; the Pro tier is still Gemini 3.1 Pro, and Gemini 3.5 Pro remains unreleased after repeated delays. Keep your model layer swappable behind config regardless — this family has changed its answer three times this summer.
Pillar guide
For the full family deep-dive — every model, pricing, benchmarks, and how Gemini stacks up against Claude and GPT — see our Gemini 3.5 complete guide for 2026.
FAQ
Is Gemini 3.5 Pro available in the API?
No. As of August 20, 2026 there is no gemini-3.5-pro model ID in the Gemini API or Vertex AI, no model card, and no announced pricing. The Pro-tier model you can call is Gemini 3.1 Pro (preview) at $2/$12 per 1M tokens.
When will Gemini 3.5 Pro be released?
Unknown. Google’s last official statement (July 21, 2026) was that it is “currently testing with partners” and will ship “as soon as it’s ready.” Bloomberg reported the delay stems from coding performance. Anyone citing a specific date is speculating.
Is Gemini 3.5 Flash still worth using?
Only if you’re already on it and can’t migrate yet. At $1.50/$9 it costs double what 3.7 Flash charges during the intro period ($0.75/$3.75), and 3.7 Flash scores higher on every published benchmark. Migration is a model-ID change.
What is Gemini Spark?
A persistent personal agent built on the Gemini Flash line, announced at I/O 2026 — it “runs 24/7” taking actions on your behalf. It started with trusted testers and a US-only Ultra beta; as of August 13, 2026 it’s available to Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers in 160+ countries.
Does any Gemini model offer a 2M-token context window?
No. The 2M-token figure was pre-launch expectation for Gemini 3.5 Pro, which never shipped. Gemini 3.7 Flash and Gemini 3.1 Pro both offer 1M-token context.
What are Gemini 3.6 Flash and 3.7 Flash?
The two Flash releases that followed 3.5 Flash: 3.6 Flash on July 21, 2026 (better coding, 17% fewer output tokens) and 3.7 Flash on August 13, 2026 (Google’s current best model overall). Both launched at an introductory $0.75/$3.75 per 1M tokens through December 31, 2026, reverting to $1.50/$7.50 after.
Hiring developers who can move with the model field?
Three Flash releases and one indefinitely delayed flagship in a single summer is exactly why your model layer should be swappable — and why your team should evaluate releases on evidence rather than keynote promises. codersera.com/hire matches you with vetted remote developers experienced with LLM integration, evaluation, and migration, so adopting the right model stays a config change instead of a rewrite.