Leaked roadmap suggests AMD Zen 4 desktop CPUs with DDR5 support may only launch in 2022, no relevant AMD CPU launches planned for 2021?

Beginning with the first 14 nm Zen-based CPUs launched in March 2017, AMD has been consistently churning out improved Ryzen desktop CPU versions on a yearly basis. Thus, the Zen+ 12 nm refined versions launched a year later, in April 2018, and the current gen Zen 2 CPUs hit the market last July. The global pandemic appears to have messed up with the launch schedule this year, as the latest rumors regarding the Zen 3 CPU launch suggest a Q4 2020 launch, so the Ryzen 4000 desktop processors could land this October at best. Now, according to an insider close to GamersNexus, it looks like AMD might have pushed the Zen 4 launch to 2022 due to the current uncertain economic climate, possibly leaving 2021 with no exciting launches.

The guys over at GamersNexus do point out that the leaked roadmap coming from their trusted insider could be subject to change, so it does not constitute a public promise by any means. As it stands, the roadmap shows that AMD intends to introduce DDR5 support for the desktop CPU lineup in 2022. Apparently, the lineup in question is the Ryzen 5000 based on the Zen 4 microarchitecture, and it will also come with native USB 4.0 support. As far as desktop APUs are concerned, the roadmap shows that 2022 will bring Zen3+ models supporting DDR5, as well, whereas the mobile APUs will feature on-board LPDDR5 support.

Considering that the Zen 3 CPUs may get a late launch this year, it probably makes sense for AMD to postpone the Zen 4 family to early 2022, but no mobile or desktop Zen 3 APU launch for 2021 seems like a bit of a stretch. We know TSMC is opening its 5 nm production nodes this year and AMD has already booked considerable 7 nm and 5 nm production capacities for this year, so it is hard to imagine that team red will essentially skip the entire 2021 as far as consumer processor launches go. A recent leak even points out that Dell is planning to release laptops powered by Zen 3 mobile APUs next year, so that GamersNexus roadmap clearly feels inaccurate, at least when it comes to the Zen3+ APUs.