First AMD Phoenix “Ryzen 7040” APU Laptops Expected To Hit Shelves By 30th April, U-Series In May

The latest reports suggest that AMD is likely to introduce its first Phoenix "Ryzen 7040" APU laptops by the end of this month.

The insider in question is Bilibili's content creator, Golden Pig Upgrade, who already has the new AMD Ryzen 7040 "Phoenix" APU-powered laptop in his possession for review like many other tech outlets though, it looks like while AMD might lift the review embargo early on, the sales embargo is still going to take some time to lift. This would mean that customers might have to wait a bit more before they get their latest Phoenix laptop.

Exactly a month ago, it was reported that AMD had delayed the launch of its Phoenix "Ryzen 7040" APUs. The launch had been rescheduled to April though we are past the mid of April and have yet to see any Phoenix laptops go on sale. Golden Pig Upgrade states that the schedule has changed once again and the retail launch has shifted from the 18th of April to the 30th of April. While that is still technically April, it would suggest a delay of at least two months. But that's not all.

It is reported that the laptops that hit retail on the 30th of April will feature the high-end Phoenix AMD Ryzen 7040 "HS" series SKUs. The lower-power U-series SKUs are expected to hit retail later around May though they won't be separated by long duration. The U-series laptops are said to retail on the 1st of May though that might change too.

When the AMD Phoenix "Ryzen 7040" APUs were originally delayed, AMD cited platform readiness as the reason. One must remember that the AMD Ryzen 7040 "Phoenix" CPUs recently had their specifications downgraded with the GPU core clocks being reduced by up to 200 MHz. The RDNA 3 GPU is going to be a major attraction for users who want a capable integrated graphics solution in a thin and light platform but the reduced clocks will end up delivering lower performance though that can be one of the reasons why the delay may have happened.

Despite the downgrade, the AMD Ryzen 7040 "Phoenix" APUs are going to offer really good iGPU and CPU performance based on the benchmarks we have seen. However, these delays are definitely going to make some people disappointed who were planning on getting the laptops. Furthermore, it doesn't instill a lot of hope that Phoenix Laptops will have better availability and options than their predecessors (Rembrandt / Cezanne).

AMD Phoenix Point "Ryzen 7040" Series Mobility CPUs

The AMD Phoenix "Ryzen 7040" CPU lineup will utilize both Zen 4 & RDNA 3 cores. The new Phoenix CPUs will carry LPDDR5 and PCIe 5 support and come in SKUs ranging from 35W to 45W. AMD has also pointed out that the laptop parts may include memory technologies aside from LPDDR5 and DDR5. The CPUs will be outfitted with the latest AMD XDNA AI engines

AMD introduced a total of three SKUs, the Ryzen 9 7940HS being the flagship. This chip features 8 cores, 16 threads, a base clock of 4.0 GHz, a boost clock of 5.2 GHz, a 40 MB total cache, and an integrated RDNA 3 GPU with 12 Compute Units operating at up to 2800 MHz. The follow-up to this is the 7840HS & which also comes with a similar core configuration but lower clock speeds of 3.8 GHz base and 5.1 GHz boost clocks. The Radeon 780M iGPU is clocked at 2700 MHz.

There's also the Ryzen 5 7640HS which comes with 6 cores, 12 threads with a base clock of 4.3 GHz, a boost clock of 5.0 GHz, 38 MB of cache, and an iGPU with 8 Compute Units running at 2600 MHz. The first laptops with the AMD Ryzen 7040 'Phoenix' CPUs are expected to ship in April 2023. On a side note, AMD has officially launched its Ryzen 7045 "Dragon Range" Enthusiast laptops which are available since last month.