AMD teases Mullins and Beema tablet/convertibles APU

AMD announced two new mobile APUs at the APU13 Developer Conference; Mullins and Beema. These chips are AMD's answer to Intel's Bay Trail, Mullins succeeds the ultra-low-power Temash while Beema is the successor of the low-power Kabini. Both chips are slated to be released in 2014.

Beema will fit in roughly the same power envelope as Kabini, which means there will be chips with a TDP ranging from 10W to 25W. This low-power chip features two to four Puma-based cores, which is based on an updated Jaguar architecture. The integrated graphics remain unchanged from the current GCN-based generation.

For tablets AMD pits the new Mullins chip, this APU has a TDP of 4.5W and a SDP (scenario design power) of just 2W. Like Beema, Mullins offers two to four Puma cores and GCN graphics.

Both APUs featured an integrated ARM Cortex A5 SoC for TrustZone, a technology that provides a separate, secure execution environment to improve computer security. Contrary to some rumors that popped up earlier this year, Mullins and Beema do not support HSA nor TrueAudio.

AMD (NYSE: AMD), building on its leadership in graphics and gaming, announced its 2014 mobile Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) product roadmap at the APU13 Developer Conference today. Raising the performance bar across fanless tablets, 2-in-1s and ultrathin notebooks, the APUs codenamed “Mullins” and “Beema” are projected to deliver more than 2x the performance-per-watt of the previous generation.

The latest AMD APUs also support Microsoft InstantGo for faster wake times and to ensure data such as email actively refresh in standby. Both new processor families are also the first to integrate an AMD-developed platform security processor based on the ARM® Cortex®-A5 featuring ARM TrustZone® technology for enhanced data security. The new low-power APUs join the previously disclosed high-performance notebook APU, codenamed “Kaveri,” in AMD’s 2014 mobile lineup.

“AMD is establishing excellent momentum this year in the low-power, mobile computing market and with ‘Mullins’ and ‘Beema’ coming in 2014 we are not standing still,” said Mark Papermaster, AMD’s chief technology officer and senior vice president, during his closing keynote at APU13. “AMD aims to deliver a set of platforms in the first half of next year that will outperform the competition in graphics and total compute performance in fanless tablets, 2-in-1s and ultrathin notebooks.”

Both new processor families offer two or four “Puma” CPU cores and AMD Radeon™ graphics on a 28nm system-on-chip (SoC). The new processors are planned to launch in the first half of next year and will be demonstrated at CES 2014 as part of a full suite of AMD products.