AMD's AI-Powered APUs Set to Revolutionize Gaming Handhelds

AMD FSR 4 could be coming to gaming handhelds -- why that's potentially a big deal

A new supposed leak hints at two new AI-focused AMD chips for handhelds AMD is reportedly working on AI-focused APUs. The company's FSR upscaling technology could be used in the best handheld gaming consoles. Currently, the latest generation of AMD's APUs consists of the Ryzen Z2, Z2 Go and Z2 Extreme chips. According to leaker @AnhPhuH on X (via Notebook Check and VideoCardz), these chips will soon be joined by a Ryzen Z2 A and Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme. As you've likely deduced from their monikers, these APUs will utilize AI technology. A processor with an NPU for handhelds isn't new, as the MSI Claw 8 AI+ demonstrates. However, that handheld runs on an Intel Core Ultra 2 processor. If this alleged leak is accurate, it would be AMD's first attempt at AI-focused handheld APUs. That could be huge for future handhelds powered by AMD's chip. AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution, or FSR 4, is an AI-powered upscaling technology that can improve image quality and gaming performance. The tech is available for the company's Radeon RX 9000 series GPUs. Still, if AMD is reportedly working on AI-focused APUs, we could see FSR 4 (or some version) for upcoming gaming handhelds. Upscaling tech like FSR and Nvidia's DLSS utilizes AI to render games at a lower resolution and then intelligently upscales the image to improve visual fidelity and performance. Offloading basic processes like system performance from the APU to the NPU could also be a potential performance benefit. As always with alleged leaks and rumors, take everything I've written above with a healthy dose of skepticism. That said, I doubt AMD will sit back and let Intel be the only manufacturer that makes AI-focused processors for gaming handhelds. Even if the alleged AMD Z2 A and AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme don't manifest, something similar might. We'll keep an eye on this story and follow up with any updates we hear.

AMD reportedly planning Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme APU for gaming handhelds, with NPU for AI workloads

TL;DR: AMD is reportedly planning to introduce the Ryzen Z2 family of processors, including the flagship Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme APU, aimed at gaming handhelds. These APUs will feature a mix of Zen 3, Zen 4, or Zen 5 cores, integrated RDNA GPUs, and an NPU for AI tasks, competing with Intel's Core Ultra 200V series. AMD is reportedly gearing up to add "AI" to the name of its new gaming handheld APU, with rumors of the new Ryzen Z2 family of processors seeing a flagship Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme APU. In a new post on X by leaker Hoang Anh Phu, we're hearing that the Ryzen Z2, Ryzen Z2 A, Ryzen Z2 Go, Ryzen Z2 Extreme, and Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme APUs will take the gaming handheld processor battle to Intel and its Core Ultra 200V "Lunar Lake" series of processors. Each of the Ryzen Z2 series APUs will have a mix of Zen 3, Zen 4, or Zen 5 processor cores with integrated GPUs that range between RDNA 2, RDNA 3, and RDNA 3.5. The flagship Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme APU will reportedly feature Strix Point silicon with up to 8 cores, and 16 threads of Zen 5/c cores, and up to 16 cores of RDNA 3.5-based GPU... and we can't miss out on that XDNA 2-based NPU for AI workloads. It seems that AMD's purported Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme APU will be the only processor in the Z2 series to feature an NPU for AI workloads, but we could expect one of them -- the Ryzen Z2 A -- to have some form of AI functionality. Strix Point APUs ship with their NPU chips in-tact, but AMD disables them for gaming handhelds... but it appears it's back on the table the Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme.