Next Generation AMD Chip for Handhelds and Laptops

AMD is persisting in its endeavors to develop high-performance APUs, as revealed by a recent leak. This could potentially lead to significant advancements in laptops and handheld devices in the coming years.

Despite the lack of official confirmation from AMD, details about the highly anticipated Strix Halo APU have started to surface, providing insight into what consumers can anticipate from the upcoming successor to the Strix Point, set to release in July 2024.

Videocardz reported that the information was obtained from shipping manifests, revealing that AMD is currently in the process of testing a new reference platform for Strix Halo. This platform will use the FP11 socket and can support up to 120W power, as well as an impressive 128GB of memory. Previous tests of Strix Halo have been limited to 64GB and 32GB versions.

According to leaked documents, Strix Halo is expected to support a 256-bit memory bus and LPDDR5-800 memory. It utilizes AMD’s latest Zen 5 architecture. However, the APU configuration of Strix Halo does not include the memory within the package, resulting in a need for larger boards.

While this type of configuration has been utilized in laptops before, gaming laptops typically rely on a distinct GPU and CPU. Despite not having the same speed benefits as top-of-the-line discrete GPUs like the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 or 4090, Strix Halo would have a more compact design and could potentially rival the capabilities of the RTX 4070.

This could result in simpler designs for devices like laptops and handhelds, ultimately leading to improved reliability. Furthermore, if the Strix Halo APU is incorporated into handhelds, its memory capability could greatly enhance the performance of future devices such as the Steam Deck or Asus ROG Ally.