AMD Unveils New Beema and Mullins APUs

Do you like this story?

Advanced Micro Devices on Wednesday unveiled a pair of future processors for tablets, 2-in-1s, and ultrathin laptops, which the chip maker said it will release in the first half of 2014.
Code named Mullins and Beema, the two 28-nanometer accelerated processor unit (APU) product families offer twice the performance-per-watt of AMD's current-generation "Kebini" and "Temash" APUs, the company said.
AMD said it will be showcasing Mullins and Beema APUs at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in early January.
"AMD is establishing excellent momentum this year in the low-power, mobile computing market and with 'Mullins' and 'Beema' coming in 2014 we are not standing still. AMD aims to deliver a set of platforms in the first half of next year that will outperform the competition in graphics and total compute performance in fanless tablets, 2-in-1s, and ultrathin notebooks," Mark Papermaster, AMD's chief technology officer, said during this week's APU13 developer conference in San Jose, Calif.
The new APUs utilize a System-on-a-Chip (SoC) design featuring AMD's "Puma" central processor cores and Graphics Core Next (GCN)-class Radeon graphics. Mullins and Beema are also the first APUs in AMD's stable integrating the chip maker's ARM Cortex A5-based platform security processor with ARM TrustZone technology.
The two APUs join AMD's "Steamroller"-based APU, code named Kaveri, in the company's 2014 lineup of mobile processors. Whereas the more powerful Kaveri family will feature parts using between 15 and 35 watts, Beema APUs will range from 10-25W and the ultra-low power Mullins processors will draw just around 2W, making them capable of powering fanless designs.
Mullins and Beema APUs will be available in dual-core and quad-core configurations, AMD said. Both product families will support Microsoft InstantGo to deliver faster system boot-up times, as AMD DockPort technology, presumably for attaching keyboards in 2-in-1 products.
AMD also teased a number of tablets, 2-in-1s, and small-screen touch notebooks coming next year, which use its new Mullins, Beema, and Kaveri APUs. These include Hewlett-Packard's Pavilion x2, Pavilion TouchSmart, and Envy TouchSmart; MSI's W20 3M tablet and S12T laptop; Acer's Aspire V5-122P and Aspire V5-552; Vizio's upcoming 11.6-inch Windows tablet; Toshiba's Satellite Click; and Samsung's ATIV Book 9 Lite.