Sony’s portable PlayStation 6 may have a significant advantage over competing gaming handhelds, at least when it comes to graphics hardware. New information suggests that the company may be the only manufacturer to offer a dedicated portable SoC based on AMD’s upcoming RDNA 5 architecture.
The information comes from Digital Foundry’s Richard Leadbetter, who reportedly discussed the matter during a recent Patreon-exclusive episode of Digital Foundry Direct. According to Leadbetter, behind-the-scenes discussions suggest that Sony has “some sort of exclusivity” on RDNA 5 for its upcoming handheld console.
However, this is apparently not the result of a conventional exclusivity agreement between Sony and AMD. Instead, AMD is reportedly becoming increasingly selective in developing semi-custom chips for portable devices, requiring customers to commit to sufficiently large production volumes before allocating design resources. After all, TSMC wafers are expensive.
This explanation is consistent with an earlier statement from Kepler_L2, which suggested that AMD wanted a commitment of at least 10 million chips before developing a dedicated SoC for Microsoft’s proposed Xbox handheld console. Microsoft reportedly deemed it too risky, although Windows Central’s Jez Corden later disputed the account.
If true, Sony may actually enjoy an advantage with RDNA 5 in the portable segment. Other manufacturers, including Asus, Lenovo, and Valve, may need to continue using existing AMD architectures or wait for commercially available standard RDNA 5 APUs. Looking at the current state of AMD hardware, they may still be stuck with RDNA 3.5, as RDNA 4 mobile never materialized in the x86 market.
Interestingly, Sony’s upcoming handheld, codenamed Canis, has already been attached to an RDNA 5-based GPU. Previous rumors point to 16 compute units along with a combination of low-power Zen 6c and Zen 6 CPU cores. The device is expected to run games natively, unlike the streaming-centric PlayStation Portal.
I have been an avid PC gamer since the age of 8. My passion for gaming eventually pushed me into general technology, and I got my first writing job at age 19. I have a degree in mechanical engineering and worked in manufacturing and a few other publications like Wccftech before joining Notebookcheck in November 2019. I cover a variety of topics including smartphones, gaming, and computer hardware.
