AMD's Future Unveiled: What's on the Stove with Zen 6, ARM Chips, and Next-Generation GPUs
It appears that AMD is already hard at work on what comes next, even as we're just learning about their newest generation of tech. Rumors and early commit messages to code are giving us some intriguing hints at their upcoming CPU and GPU roadmap. Let's discuss what the rumor mill and early development are suggesting.
Zen 6 CPUs: The Groundwork is Being Laid
AMD's not playing around. The first whispers of their "Zen 6" CPU architecture have been heard in the Linux world. Yes, it's very, very early days, but a new patch has appeared, and it's basically AMD telling the Linux kernel, "Hello, get ready for Zen 6."
This first patch doesn't give away much, but it introduces a flag, "X86_FEATURE_ZEN6." It's a tiny marker that will be employed to mark Zen 6 cores in a system in the future. This is a normal first step, and it makes it possible for later updates to take this as a base, letting the operating system know when a Zen 6 chip is "in there." Interestingly, the patch suggests Zen 6 will share the same "Family 1Ah" code as Zen 5 but with different model IDs. Is this a hint at some similarity in features or performance between the two. Only time will tell.
This Zen 6 patch is "urgent" and can be expected to roll into the current Linux 6.15 cycle quite soon. What will we see in Zen 6 proper. We've been hearing whispers of "Medusa Ridge" desktop CPUs with core counts of 12, 24, and even 32. On the server side, EPYC "Venice" CPUs can be expected, both with Zen 6 and Zen 6c cores. So, much to anticipate here. The presence of these Linux patches does tend to suggest development in good progress, so expect more solid information about Zen 6 products before long.
AMD Dips Its Toes in ARM with "Sound Wave"
Here's a hot rumor: AMD is rumored to be developing ARM-based processors. Yes, the same folks who produce x86 chips are rumored to be entering ARM with a platform codenamed "Sound Wave." This is not a flight of fancy; a credible hardware leaker, Kepler_L2, seems to be behind this rumor.
Why would AMD do that. ARM processors have been making waves, especially in notebooks, because of their efficiency in terms of power usage. Qualcomm's Snapdragon SoCs proved the point. And NVIDIA supposedly is working on an ARM-based chip for AI PCs as well. AMD would naturally want to want a piece of that action, offer an alternative to their x86 APUs like the Strix Halo series.
What could "Sound Wave" bring. There are rumors it could sport an RDNA 3.5 integrated GPU and be using TSMC's 3nm process – similar to what NVIDIA is said to be working on for its "N1X" SoCs. As Microsoft's "Windows on ARM" platform is gaining traction, AMD's addition could give it even more impetus. This wouldn't be AMD's first dance with ARM; they had "Project Skybridge" way back in 2014, which was to combine x86 and ARM, but it got axed. Maybe the time is finally ripe for AMD to embrace ARM's power efficiency prowess for some machines. We could be looking at these "Sound Wave" APUs in Microsoft Surface laptops by 2026, so a formal announcement might come later this year or CES 2026.
A Glimpse of Future GPUs: Is "UDNA" Coming
Don't forget the graphics angle. Leaked code is giving us a preview of what may be AMD's next-generation GPU architecture. While AMD hasn't dubbed it, rumors suggest a shift away from RDNA and toward "UDNA," potentially Unified GPU Architecture. The new architecture has been internally codenamed "GFX13."
The leaker @Kepler_L2 speculates GFX13 is either UDNA or RDNA 5, so the ultimate branding is not set in stone. What's new. This architecture allegedly introduces a feature called "Wavegroup," perhaps how groups of threads (wavefronts) are being managed. It's early days still, but UDNA is said to be AMD's next big GPU leap, appearing in both discrete graphics and integrated into upcoming CPUs. This is a bit more than the RDNA 4 at present, which seems to be focusing on discrete GPUs.
Zen 6 and UDNA products are reportedly using TSMC's N3E process node. If UDNA-based iGPUs will be included in future Zen 6 CPUs is uncertain, however. Most Zen 6 families will probably stick with the RDNA 3.5 architecture for integrated graphics. UDNA-based solutions will probably aim at the high-end graphics market, something AMD has not been as vocal about with the RDNA 4 stack at present. We don't know much else about UDNA at the moment, except that it's in development, and mass production for UDNA-based GPUs could begin around the second quarter of 2026.
Meanwhile, AMD is likely to flesh out its RDNA 4 lineup further with more RX 9000 series GPUs in store. It's a wonderful time to be an AMD fan with plenty of innovation seemingly in the works.
