Rumor: AMD’s 2027 “Medusa Halo” APU to Feature LPDDR6 Memory and 24 Cores
A new wave of rumors is painting an exciting picture for the future of high-performance laptop chips. According to reliable hardware leakers, AMD’s next-generation “Halo” series APU, codenamed Medusa Halo and potentially branded under a Ryzen AI Max 500 series, is expected to bring a significant leap in memory technology with support for LPDDR6.
This move would represent a major generational shift. Current and upcoming Halo chips, like the Strix Halo and its rumored refresh “Gorgon Halo,” utilize fast LPDDR5X memory. The jump to LPDDR6 is anticipated to bring a substantial bandwidth increase, with early speeds potentially ranging between 10.6 to 14.4 Gbps per pin.
What does this mean in practice? If Medusa Halo retains the wide 256-bit memory bus used by its predecessor, pairing it with a top-tier LPDDR6 spec could deliver a theoretical bandwidth of up to 460.8 GB/s. That’s roughly 80% more bandwidth than the already impressive Strix Halo, which is set to offer 256 GB/s. Such a boost is crucial for feeding powerful integrated graphics and handling massive datasets in AI and creative workloads.
Beyond memory, the architectural rumors are equally compelling. Medusa Halo is now said to be the first of the Halo series to move beyond the Zen 5 and RDNA 3.5 architectures that will dominate AMD’s 2026-2027 portfolio. Instead, it is tipped to feature next-generation Zen 6 CPU cores and RDNA 5 graphics.
On the CPU side, this could translate to a core count increase from 16 cores in Strix Halo to 24 cores in Medusa Halo, arranged across two core complex dies (CCDs). This would be a monumental offering for a laptop chip, blurring the lines between mobile and desktop performance.
The shift to RDNA 5 graphics is particularly notable. While most of AMD’s upcoming lineup will use refined RDNA 3.5 graphics, Medusa Halo is rumored to debut the architecture expected to power AMD’s next generation of discrete GPUs. This could bring major efficiency and performance gains to integrated graphics, potentially with support for future technologies like FSR 4.
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It is critical to stress that AMD has not confirmed the existence of Medusa Halo, Gorgon Halo, or any of these specifications. All details should be treated as informed speculation from the rumor mill. The projected timeline suggests Medusa Halo would be a late 2026 or 2027 product, following the anticipated launch of Strix Halo in 2025 and a possible Gorgon Halo refresh in 2026.
If these rumors hold, Medusa Halo could redefine the ceiling for performance in premium laptops, creative workstations, and high-end gaming handhelds, offering a combination of core count, graphics architecture, and memory bandwidth previously unseen in an all-in-one chip.
Source: Olrak29_