(Credit: AMD)
At CES this year, AMD is making a major step in its push toward AI-optimized computing. The company introduced its latest line of processors for laptops and mini desktops, the Ryzen AI 400 series, set to launch in Q1 of this year. The chips promise faster and more efficient handling of AI workloads while delivering notable improvements in traditional CPU and graphics performance.
The so-called "Red Team" also introduced some new additions to its buzzy Ryzen AI Max family of top-end mobile AI system chips. These CPUs utilize an unconventional shared-memory design to enhance graphics and GPU-based AI performance. The new CPUs supplement AMD's flagship "Strix Halo" processor that created a stir at last year's CES, and they'll also land in systems before the end of this quarter. Here are all the details we know so far.
(Credit: AMD)Meet the Ryzen AI 400: 'Zen 5' and 60 TOPS of AI Juice for the Mainstream
The headline story of the Ryzen AI 400 series is the hardware triad hiding inside: "Zen 5" CPU cores, RDNA 3.5 graphics, and the XDNA 2 neural processor (NPU) architecture. While all of these technologies were part of AMD's Ryzen AI 300 series announced in mid-2024, the new chips refine this stack with faster clock speeds and upgraded NPUs. The NPUs now deliver up to 60 trillion AI operations per second (TOPS) in the highest-end chip in the line (the Ryzen AI 9 HX 475), and 50 TOPS at minimum.
(Credit: AMD)This marks a notable jump from the previous generation's maximum of 50 TOPS, positioning AMD's top-end 400-series chips safely ahead of current competitors, such as Intel’s "Panther Lake" (50 TOPS), in raw AI-compute metrics. However, this is well below Qualcomm's mammoth 80 TOPS claim for its upcoming Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme, X2 Elite, and X2 Plus processors, placing AMD firmly in second place in terms of raw AI speeds.
Beyond raw numbers, AMD will leverage its ROCm software stack to unify AI development from cloud servers down to these local devices, supporting both Windows and Linux environments.
Parts and Performance: Taking On the Competition
The Ryzen AI 400 series represents an evolution of the "Strix Point" architecture introduced in the Ryzen AI 300 series, pushing clock speeds and memory bandwidth to new limits for integrated solutions. And AMD didn't hold back on the comparisons during its press briefing.
Using the example of the new Ryzen AI 9 HX 470 (the second-fastest chip in the new lineup), the firm claims up to 1.3 times faster multitasking compared with the "Lunar Lake" Intel Core Ultra 9 288V, and 29% faster on average when running a 10-person Microsoft Teams call alongside standard office productivity applications.
(Credit: AMD)Content creators are also in for a treat, with AMD bragging of 1.7 times faster performance in common content-creation benchmark tests. Gaming hasn't been forgotten, either; the integrated Radeon graphics units are optimized to provide near-native image quality from lower-resolution frames using the new AMD FSR "Redstone" technology. AMD claims the Ryzen AI 400 series will drive 10% more performance than an Intel Core Ultra 9 288V processor running at 30 watts.
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Despite the power gains, efficiency remains a core pillar. Built on TSMC's 4nm process, these chips feature an optimized low-power architecture that AMD says can deliver "multi-day" battery life—up to 24 hours of local video playback on a single charge. That claim likely refers to multiple workdays of average use.
Ryzen AI Max+ Is Back
AMD will also update its workstation-level Ryzen AI Max+ mobile processors with two new chip models in the AI 300 Max line: the Ryzen AI Max+ 392 (12-core), and the Ryzen AI Max+ 388 (eight-core).
The Ryzen AI Max processors stand out for their unique, APU-style system-on-a-chip (SoC) designs. They employ a bank of shared memory that can be allocated on the fly between main system memory and graphics. With support for up to 192GB of shared memory, these chips can deliver excellent integrated graphics performance, as well as robust AI processing assisted by the GPU cores. The CPU performance is also robust, and includes support for multi-threading.
You can see the two new AI Max+ chips, in gold, and where they fit into the existing Ryzen AI Max+ and Max line...
(Credit: AMD)The AI Max+ chips have more graphics hardware onboard than the AI Max (non-"+") ones, with 40 GPU cores compared with 32 cores on the AI Max, and just 16 (at most) in the top chips of the upcoming Ryzen AI 400 line. This additional graphics silicon enables an effective increase in the GPU-powered AI potential, measured in GPU TFLOPS, separate from the AI processes handled on the 50 TOPS NPU (which remains the same across the Max and Max+ family).
AMD is introducing these two new SKUs to offer system makers greater choice and flexibility in incorporating the AI Max+ into their systems. Announced at CES 2025, the top-end Ryzen AI Max+ 395 has appeared in a handful of compelling PCs, such as the compact Framework Desktop and the 2025 Asus ROG Flow Z13, which we reviewed in 2025. Both are powerful systems, but pricey; this aims to bring the Max+ model to more users, more affordably.
When Will AMD's New AI Chips Become Available?
Laptops and mini PCs featuring chips from AMD's Ryzen AI 400 and updated AI Max+ series will be available in Q1 2026, with the processors expected to appear in systems from Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, and Lenovo.
(Credit: AMD)We'll be checking out all of these systems and more as part of our CES coverage, so stay tuned to PCMag throughout this week and in the coming months to see where this capable AI PC silicon will show up.