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.