AMD shores up its budget laptop CPUs by renaming more years-old silicon

In a move that reflects the ongoing challenges in silicon manufacturing, AMD has opted to rebrand several of its existing laptop processors rather than introducing new models. This trend of rebranding is not unique to AMD; competitors like Intel have similarly opted to refresh their product lines with older technology. Recently highlighted by Tom’s Hardware, AMD has introduced new model numbers for its Ryzen laptop chips, which incorporate the same silicon as previous versions. The updated processors utilize either the Rembrandt-R architecture featuring Zen 3+ CPU cores and RDNA 2 graphics or the Mendocino architecture, which includes Zen 2 CPU cores paired with RDNA 2 graphics. While these architectures initially debuted in 2022, it's noteworthy that the Zen 2 CPU architecture of Mendocino dates back to 2019. This marks AMD's second rebranding effort for the Rembrandt-R silicon, which was first launched under the Ryzen 6000 series in 2022. The refreshed chips are set to go head-to-head with Intel’s Core 100 series processors, most of which are based on the Raptor Lake technology from 2022. As consumers navigate through these rebranded options, the distinction between new and existing technologies may become increasingly blurred.