While Switch 2 Goes NVIDIA, Xbox Handheld Has Reportedly Chosen a Custom AMD APU

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While Switch 2 Goes NVIDIA, Xbox Handheld Has Reportedly Chosen a Custom AMD APU

Xbox has been making some big moves in the industry recently. Their decision to port their once exclusive titles to the PC, along with direct competitors such as PlayStation and Nintendo, has thrown the industry into a storm whose final effects are yet to unfold.

Xbox has also been eyeing the handheld market for quite some time now and has explicitly mentioned the presence of an ‘Xbox handheld’ gaming PC. This PC will very likely compete with the Steam Deck and other options such as the ROG Ally. Recent leaks seem to point to an AMD-based system now.

The new Xbox handheld reportedly uses a ‘low-power’ AMD APU

The new Xbox handheld reportedly uses a custom AMD APU, which is also expected to be low-power. This information was leaked by multiple users online, and detailed that AMD is working with Xbox in a direct collaboration to produce the heart and brains of the upcoming handheld.

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KeplerL2 first revealed this on the NeoGAF forums. Apparently, the Xbox handheld will use a low-power AMD chip, much like the one that is present on the Steam Deck. For the uninitiated, Valve’s Steam Deck uses a custom AMD APU, which has a rated TDP of 15 W.

The Xbox handheld is also expected to follow suit and be somewhere between 10-15 W. Other details surrounding the APU, including its capabilities and generation, are still unknown as of the time of writing this article.

However, given that it is a relatively newer product, expect it to be based on the RDNA 4 or RDNA 3.5 architecture. This should, in theory, give it a competitive edge over Valve’s console, as Valve’s APU is based on the much older RDNA 2.

The handheld is expected to be revealed sometime later this year and is likely to feature ASUS as a partner. However, given that it is very likely to be less powerful than the Ryzen Z1 Extreme present on the ROG Ally, it does beg the question of why one would want to choose an Xbox handheld in the first place.

Comparing the Nintendo Switch 2 to the Xbox handheld

Unlike the upcoming Xbox device, the Nintendo Switch 2 makes use of Nvidia tech to power its systems. In particular, the Switch 2 uses a custom Nvidia Tegra T239 processor, which is also based on ARM. In contrast, the Xbox handheld is expected to run on x86, which is AMD hardware.

As such, it is not possible to directly compare the two handhelds. This is also largely thanks to the fact that we are yet to receive retail units for either console, and everything here is based on assumptions.

That’s as far as the APU is concerned. 

Externally, both consoles are expected to look quite different as well. The Nintendo Switch 2 retains its detachable Joy-Cons, while Xbox will likely maintain a traditional design, much like the ROG Ally.

The Xbox handheld should, in theory, be a tad bit faster than the Steam Deck and Nintendo Switch 2, going by leaks. However, the difference is likely to be minuscule, and there is more to a console than just specs alone.

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#Switch #NVIDIA #Xbox #Handheld #Reportedly #Chosen #Custom #AMD #APU

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