diff --git a/.github/workflows/tests.yml b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
index 2f5afb0be73..b5a8386ccd5 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ jobs:
           persist-credentials: false
       - uses: actions/setup-python@v6
         with:
-          python-version: '3.13'
+          python-version: '3.14'
       - uses: pre-commit/action@v3.0.1
       - run: pip install mypy numpy scipy vulture
       - run: mypy
@@ -76,15 +76,12 @@ jobs:
           - os: ubuntu-latest
             python: '3.13'
             kind: conda
-          - os: macos-latest  # arm64 (Apple Silicon): Sequoia
-            python: '3.13'
-            kind: mamba
-          - os: macos-15-intel  # intel: Sequoia
+          - os: macos-latest  # arm64
+            python: '3.14'
+            kind: pip
+          - os: macos-15-intel  # Intel
             python: '3.13'
-            kind: mamba
-          - os: windows-latest
-            python: '3.11'
-            kind: mamba
+            kind: pip
           - os: ubuntu-latest
             python: '3.12'
             kind: minimal
@@ -122,36 +119,21 @@ jobs:
       - uses: actions/setup-python@v6
         with:
           python-version: ${{ matrix.python }}
-        if: startswith(matrix.kind, 'pip')
+        if: startswith(matrix.kind, 'pip') || matrix.kind == 'minimal'
+        id: setup-python
+      # Workaround macOS path behavior with login shells (which puts system Python first)
+      - run: echo "export PATH=\"$(dirname ${{ steps.setup-python.outputs.python-path }}):$PATH\"" | tee -a ~/.bash_profile  # zizmor: ignore[template-injection]
+        if: startswith(matrix.kind, 'pip') && startswith(matrix.os, 'macos')
       # Python (if conda)
-      - name: Fixes for conda
-        run: |
-          # For some reason on Linux we get crashes
-          if [[ "$RUNNER_OS" == "Linux" ]]; then
-            sed -i "/numba/d" environment.yml
-          fi
-          # And on Windows and macOS PySide6.9.0 segfaults
-          if [[ "$RUNNER_OS" == "macOS" ]]; then
-            sed -i "" "s/  - PySide6 .*/  - PySide6 =6.9.2/g" environment.yml
-            sed -i "" "s/  - vtk .*/  - vtk =9.5.1/g" environment.yml
-
-          else
-            sed -i "s/  - PySide6 .*/  - PySide6 =6.9.2/g" environment.yml
-            sed -i "s/  - vtk .*/  - vtk =9.5.1/g" environment.yml
-            if [[ "$RUNNER_OS" == "Windows" ]]; then
-              echo "MNE_IS_OSMESA=true" | tee -a $GITHUB_ENV
-            fi
-          fi
-        if: matrix.kind == 'conda' || matrix.kind == 'mamba'
       - uses: mamba-org/setup-micromamba@v3
         with:
           environment-file: ${{ env.CONDA_ENV }}
           environment-name: mne
-          log-level: ${{ runner.debug == '1' && 'debug' || 'info' }}
+          log-level: 'info'
           create-args: >-
             python=${{ env.PYTHON_VERSION }}
             -v
-        if: matrix.kind == 'conda' || matrix.kind == 'mamba'
+        if: matrix.kind == 'conda'
         timeout-minutes: 20
       # Python (if old)
       - uses: astral-sh/setup-uv@v8.1.0
@@ -162,7 +144,9 @@ jobs:
             **/pylock.ci-old.toml
           python-version: ${{ matrix.python }}
         if: matrix.kind == 'old'
+      - run: bash ./tools/github_actions_verify_python.sh "${{ matrix.python }}"
       - run: bash ./tools/github_actions_dependencies.sh
+        timeout-minutes: 10
       - run: python ./tools/github_actions_check_old_env.py
         if: matrix.kind == 'old'
       # Minimal commands on Linux (macOS stalls)
diff --git a/azure-pipelines.yml b/azure-pipelines.yml
index 3413eb5c391..3802be37719 100644
--- a/azure-pipelines.yml
+++ b/azure-pipelines.yml
@@ -82,9 +82,9 @@ stages:
     variables:
       AZURE_CI: 'true'
     jobs:
-      - job: Ultraslow_PG
+      - job: Linux_Ultraslow_PG
         pool:
-          vmImage: 'ubuntu-22.04'
+          vmImage: 'ubuntu-latest'
         variables:
           DISPLAY: ':99'
           OPENBLAS_NUM_THREADS: '1'
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ stages:
           MNE_BROWSER_PRECOMPUTE: 'false'
         steps:
           - bash: |
-              set -e
+              set -eo pipefail
               ./tools/setup_xvfb.sh
               sudo apt install -yq tcsh
             displayName: 'Install Ubuntu dependencies'
@@ -112,19 +112,19 @@ stages:
               addToPath: true
             displayName: 'Get Python'
           - bash: |
-              set -e
+              set -eo pipefail
               python -m pip install --progress-bar off --upgrade pip
               python -m pip install --progress-bar off "mne-qt-browser[opengl] @ git+https://github.com/mne-tools/mne-qt-browser.git" pyvista scikit-learn python-picard qtpy nibabel sphinx-gallery "PySide6!=6.8.0,!=6.8.0.1,!=6.8.1.1,!=6.9.1" pandas neo pymatreader antio defusedxml curryreader pymef
               python -m pip uninstall -yq mne
               python -m pip install --progress-bar off --upgrade -e . --group=test
             displayName: 'Install dependencies with pip'
           - bash: |
-              set -e
+              set -eo pipefail
               mne sys_info -pd
               mne sys_info -pd | grep "qtpy .*(PySide6=.*)$"
             displayName: Print config
           - bash: |
-              set -e
+              set -eo pipefail
               LD_DEBUG=libs python -c "from PySide6.QtWidgets import QApplication, QWidget; app = QApplication([]); import matplotlib; matplotlib.use('QtAgg'); import matplotlib.pyplot as plt; plt.figure()"
           - bash: source tools/get_testing_version.sh
             displayName: 'Get testing version'
@@ -141,19 +141,10 @@ stages:
           - bash: bash <(curl -s https://codecov.io/bash)
             displayName: 'Codecov'
             condition: succeededOrFailed()
-          - task: PublishTestResults@2
-            inputs:
-              testResultsFiles: '**/junit-*.xml'
-              testRunTitle: 'Publish test results for $(Agent.JobName)'
-              failTaskOnFailedTests: true
-            condition: succeededOrFailed()
-          - task: PublishCodeCoverageResults@2
-            inputs:
-              summaryFileLocation: '$(System.DefaultWorkingDirectory)/**/coverage.xml'
 
-      - job: Qt
+      - job: Linux_Qt_Bindings
         pool:
-          vmImage: 'ubuntu-22.04'
+          vmImage: 'ubuntu-latest'
         variables:
           DISPLAY: ':99'
           OPENBLAS_NUM_THREADS: '1'
@@ -169,7 +160,7 @@ stages:
               addToPath: true
             displayName: 'Get Python'
           - bash: |
-              set -e
+              set -eo pipefail
               python -m pip install --progress-bar off --upgrade pip
               python -m pip install --progress-bar off --upgrade --pre --only-binary=\"numpy,scipy,matplotlib,vtk\" numpy scipy matplotlib vtk
               python -c "import vtk"
@@ -223,15 +214,6 @@ stages:
           - bash: bash <(curl -s https://codecov.io/bash)
             displayName: 'Codecov'
             condition: succeededOrFailed()
-          - task: PublishTestResults@2
-            inputs:
-              testResultsFiles: '**/junit-*.xml'
-              testRunTitle: 'Publish test results for $(Agent.JobName)'
-              failTaskOnFailedTests: true
-            condition: succeededOrFailed()
-          - task: PublishCodeCoverageResults@2
-            inputs:
-              summaryFileLocation: '$(System.DefaultWorkingDirectory)/**/coverage.xml'
 
       - job: Windows
         pool:
@@ -250,9 +232,9 @@ stages:
         strategy:
           maxParallel: 4
           matrix:
-            3.10 pip:
+            3.11 pip:
               TEST_MODE: 'pip'
-              PYTHON_VERSION: '3.10'
+              PYTHON_VERSION: '3.11'
             3.13 pip pre:
               TEST_MODE: 'pip-pre'
               PYTHON_VERSION: '3.13'
@@ -292,12 +274,3 @@ stages:
           - bash: bash <(curl -s https://codecov.io/bash)
             displayName: 'Codecov'
             condition: succeededOrFailed()
-          - task: PublishTestResults@2
-            inputs:
-              testResultsFiles: '**/junit-*.xml'
-              testRunTitle: 'Publish test results for $(Agent.JobName) $(TEST_MODE) $(PYTHON_VERSION)'
-              failTaskOnFailedTests: true
-            condition: succeededOrFailed()
-          - task: PublishCodeCoverageResults@2
-            inputs:
-              summaryFileLocation: '$(System.DefaultWorkingDirectory)/**/coverage.xml'
diff --git a/environment.yml b/environment.yml
index 4bc85279dc8..00982630e41 100644
--- a/environment.yml
+++ b/environment.yml
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ channels:
 dependencies:
   - python >=3.10
   - antio >=0.5.0
+  - conda
   - curryreader >=0.1.2
   - darkdetect
   - decorator >=5.1
@@ -29,9 +30,11 @@ dependencies:
   - matplotlib >=3.8
   - mffpy >=0.5.7
   - mne-qt-browser
+  - nest-asyncio2
   - nibabel >=2.0
   - nilearn
   - nomkl
+  - noqt5
   - numba >=0.35
   - numpy >=1.26,<3
   - openmeeg >=2.5.7
@@ -43,7 +46,7 @@ dependencies:
   - pyarrow
   - pybv
   - pymatreader
-  - PySide6 !=6.9.1
+  - PySide6 ==6.10.2
   - python-neo
   - python-picard >=0.4
   - pyvista >=0.43
@@ -61,9 +64,8 @@ dependencies:
   - trame
   - trame-vtk
   - trame-vuetify
-  - vtk >=9.2
+  - vtk ==9.6.0
   - xlrd
   - pip:
-      - nest-asyncio2
       - pymef
       - pyobjc-framework-Cocoa >=5.2.0;platform_system=='Darwin'
diff --git a/mne/conftest.py b/mne/conftest.py
index 85a1e72e9f8..2c2ee028b79 100644
--- a/mne/conftest.py
+++ b/mne/conftest.py
@@ -213,6 +213,7 @@ def pytest_configure(config: pytest.Config):
     # VTK <-> NumPy 2.5 (https://gitlab.kitware.com/vtk/vtk/-/merge_requests/12796)
     # nitime <-> NumPy 2.5 (https://github.com/nipy/nitime/pull/236)
     ignore:Setting the shape on a NumPy array has been deprecated.*:DeprecationWarning
+    ignore:Implicitly cleaning up.*:ResourceWarning
     """  # noqa: E501
     for warning_line in warning_lines.split("\n"):
         warning_line = warning_line.strip()
diff --git a/mne/tests/test_source_estimate.py b/mne/tests/test_source_estimate.py
index 41e33c52274..2dfd3bb04d4 100644
--- a/mne/tests/test_source_estimate.py
+++ b/mne/tests/test_source_estimate.py
@@ -1983,7 +1983,7 @@ def test_scale_morph_labels(kind, scale, monkeypatch, tmp_path):
                 min_, max_ = 0.72, 0.76
             else:
                 # min_, max_ = 0.84, 0.855  # zooms='auto' values
-                min_, max_ = 0.46, 0.63
+                min_, max_ = 0.44, 0.63
             assert min_ < corr <= max_, scale
         else:
             assert_allclose(label_tc, label_tc_to_morph, atol=1e-12, rtol=1e-12)
diff --git a/mne/viz/tests/test_evoked.py b/mne/viz/tests/test_evoked.py
index 9071bb8971c..c1e88acc1ef 100644
--- a/mne/viz/tests/test_evoked.py
+++ b/mne/viz/tests/test_evoked.py
@@ -373,6 +373,7 @@ def test_plot_white_rank():
     evoked.plot_white(cov, rank=rank)
 
 
+@pytest.mark.slowtest
 def test_plot_white():
     """Test plot_white."""
     cov = read_cov(cov_fname)
diff --git a/tools/environment_minimal.yml b/tools/environment_minimal.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index f67decbe0d2..00000000000
--- a/tools/environment_minimal.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,15 +0,0 @@
-name: mne
-channels:
-  - conda-forge
-dependencies:
-  - python>=3.9
-  - pip
-  - numpy
-  - scipy
-  - matplotlib
-  - tqdm
-  - pooch
-  - decorator
-  - packaging
-  - jinja2
-  - lazy_loader
diff --git a/tools/get_minimal_commands.sh b/tools/get_minimal_commands.sh
index ff8ada7741d..1145ae5822c 100755
--- a/tools/get_minimal_commands.sh
+++ b/tools/get_minimal_commands.sh
@@ -79,4 +79,3 @@ which mne_surf2bem
 mne_surf2bem --version
 which mri_average
 mri_average --version
-set +x
diff --git a/tools/github_actions_dependencies.sh b/tools/github_actions_dependencies.sh
index 8621a7a9709..3ee5986cfa9 100755
--- a/tools/github_actions_dependencies.sh
+++ b/tools/github_actions_dependencies.sh
@@ -3,31 +3,27 @@
 set -eo pipefail
 
 SCRIPT_DIR=$( cd -- "$( dirname -- "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" &> /dev/null && pwd )
+ONLY_BINARY_ARG="--only-binary=numpy,scipy,matplotlib,numba,llvmlite,antio"
 STD_ARGS="--progress-bar off --upgrade"
 INSTALL_ARGS="-e"
 if [ ! -z "$CONDA_ENV" ]; then
 	echo "Uninstalling MNE for CONDA_ENV=${CONDA_ENV}"
-	# This will fail if mne-base is not in the env (like in our minimal env, so ||true them):
 	echo "::group::Uninstalling MNE"
-	conda remove -c conda-forge --force -yq mne-base || true
-	python -m pip uninstall -y mne || true
+	conda remove -c conda-forge --force -y mne-base
 	echo "::endgroup::"
-	# If using bare environment.yml and not on windows, do a non-editable install
-	if [[ "${RUNNER_OS}" != "Windows" ]] && [[ "${CONDA_ENV}" != "environment_"* ]]; then
+	# If not on windows, do a non-editable install
+	if [[ "${CI_OS_NAME}" != "windows"* ]]; then
 		INSTALL_ARGS=""
 	fi
-	# If on minimal, just install testing deps
-	if [[ "${MNE_CI_KIND}" == "minimal" ]]; then
-		GROUP="test"
-		EXTRAS=""
-		STD_ARGS="--progress-bar off ${MNE_QT_BACKEND}"
-		echo "::group::Upgrading pip installation"
-		python -m pip install --upgrade pip  # upgrade pip to support --group
-		echo "::endgroup::"
-	else
-		GROUP="test_extra"
-		EXTRAS="[hdf5]"
-	fi
+	GROUP="test_extra"
+	EXTRAS="[hdf5]"
+elif [[ "${MNE_CI_KIND}" == "minimal" ]]; then
+	GROUP="test"
+	EXTRAS=""
+	STD_ARGS="--progress-bar off ${MNE_QT_BACKEND}"
+	echo "::group::Upgrading pip installation"
+	python -m pip install --upgrade pip setuptools
+	echo "::endgroup::"
 elif [[ "${MNE_CI_KIND}" == "old" ]]; then
 	GROUP=""  # group "test" already included when pylock file generated
 	EXTRAS=""
@@ -39,10 +35,12 @@ elif [[ "${MNE_CI_KIND}" == "old" ]]; then
 elif [[ "${MNE_CI_KIND}" == "pip" ]]; then
 	GROUP="test_extra"
 	EXTRAS="[full-pyside6]"
+	python -m pip install --upgrade pip setuptools
 else
 	test "${MNE_CI_KIND}" == "pip-pre"
+	python -m pip install $STD_ARGS pip setuptools
 	STD_ARGS="$STD_ARGS --pre"
-	${SCRIPT_DIR}/install_pre_requirements.sh || exit 1
+	${SCRIPT_DIR}/install_pre_requirements.sh
 	GROUP="test_extra"
 	EXTRAS=""
 fi
@@ -61,6 +59,5 @@ else
 	echo "::group::Installing MNE in development mode using pip"
 fi
 set -x
-python -m pip install $STD_ARGS $INSTALL_ARGS .$EXTRAS $GROUP_ARG
-set +x
+python -m pip install $STD_ARGS $ONLY_BINARY_ARG $INSTALL_ARGS .$EXTRAS $GROUP_ARG
 echo "::endgroup::"
diff --git a/tools/github_actions_env_vars.sh b/tools/github_actions_env_vars.sh
index c518e982276..cf4d6eaa3c0 100755
--- a/tools/github_actions_env_vars.sh
+++ b/tools/github_actions_env_vars.sh
@@ -1,37 +1,34 @@
 #!/bin/bash
-set -eo pipefail -x
+set -eo pipefail
 
 # old and minimal use conda
-if [[ "$MNE_CI_KIND" == "pip"* ]]; then
+if [[ "$MNE_CI_KIND" == "pip"* ]] || [[ "$MNE_CI_KIND" == "minimal" ]]; then
     echo "Setting pip env vars for $MNE_CI_KIND"
     if [[ "$MNE_CI_KIND" == "pip-pre" ]]; then
-        echo "MNE_QT_BACKEND=PyQt6" | tee -a $GITHUB_ENV
         # We should test an eager import somewhere, might as well be here
         echo "EAGER_IMPORT=true" | tee -a $GITHUB_ENV
         # Make sure nothing unexpected is skipped
         echo "MNE_TEST_ALLOW_SKIP=.*(Requires (spm|brainstorm) dataset|CUDA not|Numba not|PySide6 causes segfaults).*" | tee -a $GITHUB_ENV
-    else
-        echo "MNE_QT_BACKEND=PySide6" | tee -a $GITHUB_ENV
     fi
+    echo "MNE_QT_BACKEND=PySide6" | tee -a $GITHUB_ENV
 elif [[ "$MNE_CI_KIND" == "old" ]]; then
     echo "MNE_IGNORE_WARNINGS_IN_TESTS=true" | tee -a $GITHUB_ENV
     echo "MNE_SKIP_NETWORK_TESTS=1" | tee -a $GITHUB_ENV
     echo "MNE_QT_BACKEND=PyQt5" | tee -a $GITHUB_ENV
-else  # conda-like
+elif [[ "$MNE_CI_KIND" == "conda" ]]; then
     echo "Setting conda env vars for $MNE_CI_KIND"
-    if [[ "$MNE_CI_KIND" == "minimal" ]]; then
-        echo "CONDA_ENV=tools/environment_minimal.yml" | tee -a $GITHUB_ENV
-        echo "MNE_QT_BACKEND=PySide6" | tee -a $GITHUB_ENV
-    else  # conda, mamba (use warning level for completeness)
-        echo "CONDA_ENV=environment.yml" | tee -a $GITHUB_ENV
-        echo "MNE_LOGGING_LEVEL=warning" | tee -a $GITHUB_ENV
-        echo "MNE_QT_BACKEND=PySide6" | tee -a $GITHUB_ENV
-        # TODO: Also need "|unreliable on GitHub Actions conda" on macOS, but omit for now to make sure the failure actually shows up
-        echo "MNE_TEST_ALLOW_SKIP=.*(Requires (spm|brainstorm) dataset|CUDA not|PySide6 causes segfaults|Accelerate|Flakey verbose behavior).*" | tee -a $GITHUB_ENV
-        # Our cache_dir test has problems when the path is too long, so prevent it from getting too long
-        if [[ "$RUNNER_OS" == "macOS" ]]; then
-            echo "PYTEST_DEBUG_TEMPROOT=/tmp" | tee -a $GITHUB_ENV
-        fi
+    echo "CONDA_ENV=environment.yml" | tee -a $GITHUB_ENV
+    echo "MNE_LOGGING_LEVEL=warning" | tee -a $GITHUB_ENV
+    echo "MNE_TEST_ALLOW_SKIP=.*(Requires (spm|brainstorm) dataset|CUDA not|PySide6 causes segfaults|Accelerate|Flakey verbose behavior).*" | tee -a $GITHUB_ENV
+    # Our cache_dir test has problems when the path is too long, so prevent it from getting too long
+    if [[ "$CI_OS_NAME" == "macos"* ]]; then
+        echo "PYTEST_DEBUG_TEMPROOT=/tmp" | tee -a $GITHUB_ENV
     fi
+    echo "MNE_QT_BACKEND=PySide6" | tee -a $GITHUB_ENV
+else
+    echo "✕ ERROR: Unrecognized MNE_CI_KIND=${MNE_CI_KIND}"
+    exit 1
+fi
+if [[ "$CI_OS_NAME" == "windows"* ]]; then
+    echo "MNE_IS_OSMESA=true" | tee -a $GITHUB_ENV
 fi
-set +x
diff --git a/tools/github_actions_test.sh b/tools/github_actions_test.sh
index 202b041bc79..ea4d783acea 100755
--- a/tools/github_actions_test.sh
+++ b/tools/github_actions_test.sh
@@ -4,8 +4,18 @@ set -eo pipefail
 
 if [[ "${CI_OS_NAME}" == "ubuntu"* ]]; then
   CONDITION="not (ultraslowtest or pgtest)"
-else  # macOS or Windows
+elif [[ "${CI_OS_NAME}" == "macos"* ]]; then
+  # detect arch and run slowtest on arm64 only (pgtest is already ultraslow on macOS)
+  if [[ "$(uname -m)" == "arm64" ]]; then
+    CONDITION="not (ultraslowtest or pgtest)"
+  else
+    CONDITION="not (slowtest or pgtest)"
+  fi
+elif [[ "${CI_OS_NAME}" == "windows"* ]]; then
   CONDITION="not (slowtest or pgtest)"
+else
+  echo "✕ ERROR: Unrecognized CI_OS_NAME=${CI_OS_NAME}"
+  exit 1
 fi
 if [ "${MNE_CI_KIND}" == "notebook" ]; then
   USE_DIRS=mne/viz/
@@ -13,7 +23,7 @@ else
   USE_DIRS="mne/"
 fi
 JUNIT_PATH="junit-results.xml"
-if [[ ! -z "$CONDA_ENV" ]] && [[ "${RUNNER_OS}" != "Windows" ]] && [[ "${MNE_CI_KIND}" != "minimal" ]] && [[ "${MNE_CI_KIND}" != "old" ]]; then
+if [[ ! -z "$CONDA_ENV" ]] && [[ "${CI_OS_NAME}" != "windows"* ]] && [[ "${MNE_CI_KIND}" != "minimal" ]] && [[ "${MNE_CI_KIND}" != "old" ]]; then
   PROJ_PATH="$(pwd)"
   JUNIT_PATH="$PROJ_PATH/${JUNIT_PATH}"
   # Use the installed version after adding all (excluded) test files
diff --git a/tools/github_actions_verify_python.sh b/tools/github_actions_verify_python.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000..c33a5cdec93
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/github_actions_verify_python.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+#!/bin/bash -ef
+
+set -eo pipefail
+
+WANT_PYTHON_VERSION="$1"
+if [[ -z "$WANT_PYTHON_VERSION" ]]; then
+	echo "✕ ERROR: Missing required argument: want Python version (e.g., 3.10)"
+	exit 1
+fi
+
+GOT_PYTHON=$(which python)
+GOT_PYTHON_VERSION=$(python --version)
+echo "Checking Python found at:"
+echo "  \$(which python)     == ${GOT_PYTHON}"
+echo "  \$(python --version) == ${GOT_PYTHON_VERSION}"
+echo "for"
+echo "  \$MNE_CI_KIND        == ${MNE_CI_KIND}"
+if [[ "${MNE_CI_KIND}" == "conda" ]]; then
+	WANT="micromamba/envs/mne"
+elif [[ "${MNE_CI_KIND}" == "old" ]]; then
+	WANT="mne-python/mne-python/.venv/bin"
+elif [[ "${MNE_CI_KIND}" == "pip" ]] || [[ "${MNE_CI_KIND}" == "pip-pre" ]] || [[ "${MNE_CI_KIND}" == "minimal" ]]; then
+	WANT="/hostedtoolcache/"
+else
+	echo "✕ ERROR: Unrecognized MNE_CI_KIND=${MNE_CI_KIND}"
+	exit 1
+fi
+if [[ "${GOT_PYTHON}" != *"${WANT}"* ]]; then
+	echo "✕ ERROR: Did not find \"${WANT}\" from PATH:"
+	tr ':' '\n' <<< "$PATH"
+	exit 1
+else
+	echo "☑ Found expected \"${WANT}\""
+fi
+if [[ "${GOT_PYTHON_VERSION}" != *"${WANT_PYTHON_VERSION}"* ]]; then
+	echo "✕ ERROR: Did not find expected Python version \"${WANT_PYTHON_VERSION}\""
+	exit 1
+else
+	echo "☑ Found expected Python version \"${WANT_PYTHON_VERSION}\""
+fi
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tools/hooks/update_environment_file.py b/tools/hooks/update_environment_file.py
index da4b3e6eb46..ba822baa651 100755
--- a/tools/hooks/update_environment_file.py
+++ b/tools/hooks/update_environment_file.py
@@ -22,8 +22,10 @@
         deps |= set(section_deps)
 recursive_deps = set(d for d in deps if d.startswith("mne["))
 deps -= recursive_deps
-deps |= {"pip", "mamba", "nomkl"}
-deps -= {"nest-asyncio2", "pymef"}  # not on conda-forge
+deps |= {"pip", "mamba", "conda", "nomkl", "noqt5"}
+# not on conda-forge
+pip_deps = {"pymef"}
+deps -= pip_deps
 
 
 def remove_spaces(version_spec):
@@ -47,30 +49,35 @@ def split_dep(dep):
 
 # split package name from version spec
 translations = dict(neo="python-neo")
-pip_deps = {"      - nest-asyncio2", "      - pymef"}
-conda_deps = set()
+conda_dep_lines = set()
+version_spec_overrides = {
+    # Help the solver work faster by specifying these (should be updated periodically):
+    "PySide6": "==6.10.2",
+    "vtk": "==9.6.0",
+}
+for key in version_spec_overrides:
+    assert any(dep.startswith(key) for dep in deps), (
+        f"Need to adjust code below if {key} is not a dependency: {deps}"
+    )
 for dep in deps:
     package_name, version_spec = split_dep(dep)
+    version_spec = version_spec_overrides.get(package_name, version_spec)
     # handle package name differences
     package_name = translations.get(package_name, package_name)
-    # PySide6==6.7.0 only exists on PyPI, not conda-forge, so excluding it in
-    # `environment.yaml` breaks the solver. 6.9.1 has a bug, and 6.9.2 needs newer
     # C deps that mean we need to upgrade VTK etc.
-    if package_name == "PySide6":
-        version_spec = "!=6.9.1"
     # rstrip output line in case `version_spec` == ""
     line = f"  - {package_name} {version_spec}".rstrip()
     # use pip for packages needing e.g. `platform_system` or `python_version` triaging
     if ";" in version_spec:
-        pip_deps.add(f"    {line}")
+        pip_deps.add(line[4:])
     else:
-        conda_deps.add(line)
+        conda_dep_lines.add(line)
 
 # prepare the pip dependencies section
 newline = "\n"  # python < 3.12 forbids backslash in {} part of f-string
 pip_section = f"""\
   - pip:
-{newline.join(sorted(pip_deps, key=str.casefold))}
+{newline.join(sorted((f"      - {dep}" for dep in pip_deps), key=str.casefold))}
 """
 pip_section = pip_section if len(pip_deps) else ""
 # prepare the env file
@@ -81,7 +88,7 @@ def split_dep(dep):
   - conda-forge
 dependencies:
   - python {req_python}
-{newline.join(sorted(conda_deps, key=str.casefold))}
+{newline.join(sorted(conda_dep_lines, key=str.casefold))}
 {pip_section}"""  # noqa: E501
 
 (repo_root / "environment.yml").write_text(env)
diff --git a/tools/install_pre_requirements.sh b/tools/install_pre_requirements.sh
index 9977a01c9d4..093940e193a 100755
--- a/tools/install_pre_requirements.sh
+++ b/tools/install_pre_requirements.sh
@@ -7,7 +7,9 @@ PLATFORM=$(python -c 'import platform; print(platform.system())')
 
 echo "Installing pip-pre dependencies on ${PLATFORM}"
 STD_ARGS="--progress-bar off --upgrade --pre"
-QT_BINDING="PySide6"
+if [[ "$MNE_QT_BACKEND" == "" ]]; then
+	MNE_QT_BACKEND="PySide6"
+fi
 
 # Dependencies of scientific-python-nightly-wheels are installed here so that
 # we can use strict --index-url (instead of --extra-index-url) below
@@ -16,7 +18,7 @@ echo "::group::Prerequisites"
 python -m pip install $STD_ARGS pip setuptools packaging \
 	threadpoolctl cycler fonttools kiwisolver pyparsing pillow python-dateutil \
 	patsy pytz tzdata nibabel tqdm trx-python joblib numexpr \
-	"$QT_BINDING!=6.9.1" \
+	"$MNE_QT_BACKEND!=6.9.1" \
 	py-cpuinfo blosc2 hatchling "formulaic>=1.1.0" \
 	matplotlib
 python -m pip uninstall -yq numpy
@@ -69,5 +71,5 @@ python -c "import numpy as np; assert np.__version__[0] == '2', np.__version__"
 echo "::endgroup::"
 
 echo "::group::Check Qt import"
-${SCRIPT_DIR}/check_qt_import.sh "$QT_BINDING"
+${SCRIPT_DIR}/check_qt_import.sh "$MNE_QT_BACKEND"
 echo "::endgroup::"