AMD has confirmed that its RDNA 4 architecture will initially be focused on desktop GPUs, with mobile offerings planned for later in a review withNotebookcheck. AtCES, AMD debuted RDNA 4, but with an impending keynote from Nvidia, it remained hesitant to share more details. After a long tussle withpremature adsandexisting retailer inventory, AMD finally slated the Radeon RX 9000 series forlaunchin March.
“Our current graphics strategy is focused on the desktop market with RDNA 4. So, I think you’ll see those types of products first in the future. Certainly, RDNA 4 and future graphics technologies will make it into mobile, whether they be on APUs or future products,” Ben Conrad, Director of Product Management for Premium Mobile Client at AMD, told Notebookcheck.
RDNA 4 introducesseveral changes, such as optimized Compute Units, better AI, faster raytracing performance, and so on, though AMD has remained tight-lipped about the specifics. On mobile, AMD packages itsRadeonofferings into APUs such as Strix Point and Krackan Point or dedicated GPUs (dGPUs) for laptops, including the Radeon RX 7000S/7000M families. The latter is seen chiefly in external GPUs or mini-PCs, as most of the dedicated laptop GPU market is occupied by offerings from Nvidia.
When asked about RDNA 4 laptops, bringing into focus the shortage of Radeon dGPU-powered laptops we mentioned above, AMD’s Ben Conrad explicitly stated that RDNA 4 will focus on desktop GPUs first. There isn’t a specific timeline for when we could see an APU equipped with RDNA 4, though you shouldn’t expect a considerable delay since Intel’sPanther Lake, powered by Celestial (Xe3), is said to arrive this year. The Battlemage-powered Lunar Lake alreadyreigns supremein the APU landscape, so AMD will eventually need to deliver a response.
Sadly, AMD never ported RDNA 3.5 to its mobile dGPU lineup. As such, the gap between AMD’s existing options and the soon-to-be-in-vogueRTX 50 seriescould be considerable in terms of performance and supply. On the contrary, AMD’sStrix Halo, with the integrated Radeon 8060S at its heart, is said tobeatthe RTX 4070 laptop GPU. Maybe AMD doesn’t need to go the dGPU route, as a potential Strix Halo successor withRDNA 4andFSR 4could compete withBlackwell.
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Hassam Nasir is a die-hard hardware enthusiast with years of experience as a tech editor and writer, focusing on detailed CPU comparisons and general hardware news. When he’s not working, you’ll find him bending tubes for his ever-evolving custom water-loop gaming rig or benchmarking the latest CPUs and GPUs just for fun.
