The rumor mill just tossed another chip onto the table. A handful of new listings and a PassMark appearance hint that AMD’s Strix Halo family – the Ryzen AI Max series – may be getting a variant that prioritizes graphics over raw CPU muscle. Chinese PC specialist SixUnited has cataloged new Ryzen AI Max models that list the full 40 compute unit iGPU, and a matching entry has shown up in the PassMark database. Industry trackers also picked up the listing and posted details in a Videocardz report. Put plainly, the entries point to a Ryzen AI Max+ model that pairs either one or two CPU chiplets with an uncut Radeon 8060S iGPU, all 40 CUs intact. That would be a shift from the current top-tier Ryzen AI Max 395, which is powerful but expensive and thermally demanding when shoehorned into a handheld chassis.
The practical takeaway for handheld makers is simple. A Strix Halo APU built around a single eight-core CPU die but keeping the full 40-CU iGPU would likely cost less and run cooler than the double-die 395 setups, while delivering stronger graphics than the smaller-iGPU variants. The OneXPlayer OneXFly Apex pricing with the 395 model, which tops out at about $1,599, illustrates how steep the price can get for full-fat Strix Halo hardware and external cooling addons in practice.
Technically, this makes sense. Strix Halo uses a chiplet approach with a large SoC die hosting the iGPU and controller logic, plus one or two CPU chiplets. AMD already ships a one-die AI Max 385 with some CUs fused off, so a one-die Max+ with all 40 CUs is not a stretch. There are caveats. Listings and benchmark entries are not official product announcements, and final pricing, power limits, and thermals will decide whether any new model is actually practical for truly pocketable devices.
Even an eight-core Strix Halo with the full iGPU will need careful thermal design to be a sensible handheld option. Still, if these entries hold up, a graphics-first Strix Halo variant could give handheld vendors a much clearer path to higher sustained frame rates without paying the premium or dealing with the extreme cooling that the fully loaded 395 brings.
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