AMD's next-gen Zen 6 APU codenamed 'Sound Wave' teased, made on TSMC 3nm node

AMD's next-gen APUs have received some more leaked details, where after Strix Point and Kraken Point APUs arrive, the company has its new Sound Wave APU made on TSMC's new 3nm process node featuring its next-gen Zen 6 architecture and RDNA 5 graphics. Oh boy.

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The next-generation AMD Strix Point APUs will arrive as the Ryzen 8050 family processors, where AI is a bigger deal with its new XDNA 2 NPU (Neural Processing Unit), otherwise known as Ryzen AI, with a huge 3x improvement in AI compute performance of up to 48 TOPs.

AMD's new Strix Point APUs will feature the latest Zen 5 CPU architecture and upgraded RDNA 3.5 GPU cores, with two versions: Strix Point with a Zen 5 monolithic design featuring up to 12 CPU cores and then Strix Point Halo with a Zen 5 chiplet design with up to 16 cores. AMD is expected to launch Strix Point APUs later this year, replacing the Ryzen 8040 series "Hawk Point" APUs that launched not too long ago.

After that, Kraken Point is expected to launch with up to 16 cores based on Zen 5 with updated RDNA 3.5 GPU cores, and it falls under both Strix Point and Strix Halo, according to leaks. Meanwhile, Fire Range and Dragon Range APUs have been teased above all of these APUs. According to AMD, Kraken Point and Strix Point are reportedly 'Premium' APUs, while Strix Halo is part of the "Elite Experience," leaving Fire Range and Dragon Range at the top in the "Ultimate Compute" APUs of the future.

But in these new leaks by dataminer "gamma0burst," we're finding out about Sarlak and Sound Wave. First, it looks like Sarlak is something different from Strix Point and Strix Halo, as the new information says that Strix, Sarlak, and Kraken dies are listed separately.

But at the bottom of this list is the new Sound Wave project, which is made on TSMC's new 3nm process node. We are to expect AMD's truly next-generation Sound Wave APUs to feature the new Zen 6 CPU architecture, and very latest RDNA 4 graphics architecture... something we won't see until 2026 unfortunately.

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We will hear more about AMD's next-generation Strix Point and Strix Halo -- and maybe even Kraken Point -- at Computex 2024 later this year. AMD will have families of new desktop and mobile processors to highlight, unveil, and release later this year and we couldn't be more excited for APU market moving forward. They're kicking the competition's ass in APUs, that's for sure.