PlayStation 6 and Radeon RX 9000 GPUs tipped to launch with AMD's UDNA architecture
Earlier this year, AMD announced it would be merging RDNA and CDNA into a unified architecture called UDNA. Essentially, its Radeon gaming GPUs and Instinct data centre GPUs will be one unified architecture. This was AMD's attempt to recreate Nvidia's CUDA ecosystem by bridging the gap between consumer and enterprise hardware.
Chiphell leaker Zhangzhonghao says we may have to wait for a while before seeing it in action. Apparently, UDNA will directly succeed RDNA 4. We've already seen an RDNA 4 GPU in action on Geekbench, and multiple leaks suggest there could be around four desktop and laptop SKUs apiece. If AMD's two-year cadence is maintained, its successor should show up sometime in 2026-27. The leaker adds the first RDNA 5/UDNA GPU will enter mass production sometime in late 2026.
Previously, it was rumoured AMD would get back into the enthusiast segment with RDNA 5. After all, it is tipped to be AMD's Zen moment in the GPU segment. Whether or not the transition to UDNA will help AMD catch up with Nvidia remains to be seen. At this point, all AMD needs to do is sell reasonably priced GPUs that perform close to their Nvidia counterparts without guzzling a ton of power.
The PlayStation 6 will also leverage a UDNA GPU with a Zen 4/Zen 5 CPU. This gives credence to an earlier leak which said AMD would continue to be Sony's chipmaker of choice for its consoles. If accurate, it would be reasonable to assume Microsoft's Xbox Series X successor will follow suit. Plus, Sony's putative handheld gaming console will also be powered by AMD; although that will likely stick with a laptop-grade silicon such as Strix Point or Hawk Point.
Lastly, the post also refers to Microsoft's handheld gaming console. It appears that could use AMD or Qualcomm hardware. AMD will likely win again because Microsoft has worked with them in the past for Xbox hardware. But, Qualcomm shouldn't be ruled out just yet, especially if Microsoft wants to go the Arm route with its handheld.
