AMD’s SmartShift technology won’t be coming to any new laptops this year, according to AMD Chief Architect of Gaming Solutions Frank Azor.
The news broke this morning on Twitter, when Azor responded to a comment asking about new SmartShift laptops by saying “It’s a brand new technology and to @dell credit [sic] they jumped on it first...No More SmartShift laptops are coming this year but the team is working hard on having more options ASAP for 2021.”
Azor referred to an interview with PCWorld, which first wrote about the news.
It's a brand new technology and to @dell credit they jumped on it first. I explained reasons why during my interview with @pcworld @Gordonung @BradChacos No more SmartShift laptops are coming this year but the team is working hard on having more options ASAP for 2021.June 4, 2020
Azor’s referring to the Dell G5 15 SE there, which became the first laptop to feature SmartShift technology when it hit the market in the middle of last month. Essentially, what SmartShift means is that the G5 15’s Ryzen 5 4600H CPU and Radeon RX 5600M GPU can dynamically shift power to each other based on the user’s current needs. AMD claims that this gives “games up to 14% more performance averaged across select games,” though of course, you’ll need both an AMD CPU and an AMD GPU to use it.
That also means we likely won’t see any more new laptops with both AMD processors and AMD graphics this year as well, as we’re not sure why laptop makers wouldn’t include SmartShift on new machines carrying both.
However, computers aren’t the only machines that can pair AMD processors with AMD graphics. Both the PS5 and the Xbox Series X have already been confirmed to do just that, and Sony has already confirmed that its new console will use SmartShift. With both machines set for a 2020 release, they might be our next exposure to AMD’s new technology.
Azor said other reasons for the gap in laptops with SmartShift may be laptop makers being surprised by Ryzen 4000’s performance, and thus being behind on their production roadmaps, which Azor says get planned out at least a year in advance.