In a move designed to counter Intel’s upcoming processor releases, AMD is reportedly prepping a refresh of its Ryzen 8040 series APUs, rebranding them as the Ryzen 200 series. This news comes from leaker Golden Pig Upgrade, who suggests that AMD is dropping the ‘AI’ naming convention from this APU lineup, following the recent launch of its Zen 5-powered Ryzen AI 300 series ‘Strix Point’ APUs with integrated NPUs.
The rebranding of the ‘Hawk Point’ APUs into the Ryzen 200 series aims to clear existing inventory while simultaneously providing a competitive offering against Intel’s expected Raptor Lake Refresh CPUs, launching later this year. This refresh is part of a larger industry trend where companies are focusing on AI-powered processors, like Intel’s Core Ultra 200V series CPUs that feature a new architecture, enhanced integrated graphics, and AI capabilities.
These strategic moves by AMD and Intel create a somewhat confusing landscape for consumers. With both companies launching various CPU generations, each with different features and naming conventions, it can be challenging to distinguish between refreshes and new architectures. For example, Intel’s Core Ultra 200 series without the ‘V’ designation represents a refresh of older CPUs, while the Core Ultra 200V series boasts entirely new technology.
AMD’s new Ryzen 200 series ‘Hawk Point Refresh’ APUs are expected to offer similar specifications to the existing Ryzen 8040 series, providing up to 8 cores and 16 threads, 8MB of L2 cache, 16MB of L3 cache, and TDPs ranging from 45W to 54W. The integrated GPU, based on the RDNA 3 architecture, features up to 12 Compute Units in the Radeon 780M.
AMD is expected to unveil the Ryzen 200 series APUs at CES 2025, while Intel’s Core 200 series ‘Raptor Lake Refresh’ CPUs are slated for a launch later this year. This intense competition in the CPU market is driven by the growing demand for AI-powered computing, with both companies aiming to provide powerful and efficient solutions for the ever-evolving technological landscape.
