Accept a version tuple in app.require_sphinx()

CHANGES

@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@ Features added
 
 * #11415: Add a checksum to JavaScript and CSS asset URIs included within
   generated HTML, using the CRC32 algorithm.
+* :meth:`~sphinx.application.Sphinx.require_sphinx` now allows the version
+  requirement to be specified as ``(major, minor)``.
 
 Bugs fixed
 ----------

sphinx/application.py

@@ -401,18 +401,26 @@ def setup_extension(self, extname: str) -> None:
         logger.debug('[app] setting up extension: %r', extname)
         self.registry.load_extension(self, extname)
 
-    def require_sphinx(self, version: str) -> None:
+    @staticmethod
+    def require_sphinx(version: tuple[int, int] | str) -> None:
         """Check the Sphinx version if requested.
 
         Compare *version* with the version of the running Sphinx, and abort the
         build when it is too old.
 
-        :param version: The required version in the form of ``major.minor``.
+        :param version: The required version in the form of ``major.minor`` or
+                        ``(major, minor)``.
 
         .. versionadded:: 1.0
+        .. versionchanged:: 7.1
+           Type of *version* now allows ``(major, minor)`` form.
         """
-        if version > sphinx.__display_version__[:3]:
-            raise VersionRequirementError(version)
+        if isinstance(version, tuple):
+            major, minor = version
+        else:
+            major, minor = map(int, version.split('.')[:2])
+        if (major, minor) > sphinx.version_info[:2]:
+            raise VersionRequirementError(f'{major}.{minor}')
 
     # event interface
     def connect(self, event: str, callback: Callable, priority: int = 500) -> int: