Leaker @Broly_X1 shared a road map on Friday detailing AMD’s mobile plans through 2022. The road map confirms and adds context to multiple leaks and rumors, showing that AMD is working on a Zen 3+ refresh for mobile, which is slated to launch in 2022.
The two green sections of the road map are what matter. Rembrandt is the code name for the tentative Ryzen 6000 mobile chips. We don’t know if that’s the name AMD will end up going with, but it’s as good a guess as any. The road map shows that these mobile chips will be built on the 6nm Zen 3+ architecture, which is a revision of the 7nm Zen 3 architecture that’s currently available.
Assuming AMD will continue partnering with semiconductor manufacturer TSMC, these chips will show modest improvements over their Zen 3 counterparts. The 7nm process and 6nm process are closely related at TSMC, with the latter showing minor improvements. Basically, Rembrandt isn’t an entirely new generation of processors.
The mobile chips will also feature RDNA 2 graphics cores. AMD’s current Ryzen 5000 mobile chips still use the older Vega graphics cores, so Rembrandt will offer a significant boost to gaming laptops. These cores could provide hardware-accelerated ray tracing, too, just like the RDNA 2-based RX 6000 graphics cards. They’re rumored to offer up to a 50% increase in graphics performance.
Rembrandt “U” chips are targeting thin and light laptops with only 15 watts of power, while Rembrandt “H” chips will go up to 45 watts for dedicated gaming laptops. Both chips will feature support for PCIe 4.0, DDR5, and USB 4. AMD will likely pair these chips with RX 6000M laptop graphics cards, which are rumored to launch soon.
The road map also reveals some other, less exciting chips coming down the pike. Van Gogh and Dragon Crest chips are special designs for devices without a lot of power. Dali and Pollock chips are already out on the market, built specifically for manufacturers and targeted at budget laptops. AMD will release Barcelo processors alongside Rembrandt, likely using the same branding but targeting lower-spec machines. That’s what AMD is doing with Ryzen 5000 mobile chips.
Laptop enthusiasts have a lot to look forward to. Despite AMD stomping through the desktop market, it has struggled to gain a foothold in the mobile space. Bolstering the already powerful Zen 3 architecture with RDNA 2 graphics and a more power-efficient design is a winning strategy, but we haven’t seen what Intel has in store for 2022 yet.
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