AMD: Low power 'Kabini' APUs on track for 2013 launch

Despite a disappointing fourth quarter and having to shed 15 percent of its workforce, AMD has confirmed that is has processors from its 2013 product line up already working in-house, and this includes the new low power "Kabini" APU.

"Kabini" has been designed to replace the "Brazos 2.0" low power platform, and will feature up to four x86 cores built on the new "Jaguar" 28-nanometer architecture. "Kabini" features a new memory controller that AMD promises will simplify netbooks and ultrathin notebooks designs.

The "Jaguar" architecture, which is the successor to the "Enhanced Bobcat" cores found in "Brazos 2.0" and "Hondo" APUs, offers significant advantages over the current "Bobcat" APUs. It has more cores, higher clock speed, higher number of executed instructions per clock, and support for modern instruction, including SSE4.1, SSE4.2, and MOVBE.

During a conference call with analysts, AMD chief executive Rory Read said: "We are making good progress with the bring up of Kabini, which remains on track to launch in the first half of next year."

Earlier this month, AMD unveiled details of its new Z-60 embedded "Hondo" APU, just in time for Windows 8 to hit PCs on October 26. The Z-60 brings together a powerful CPU and GPU into a single power-efficient package. The Z-60 is AMD's lowest power APU, delivering performance and up to eight hours of active tablet use, combined with two weeks standby power.

AMD has said that "Hondo" tablet APU will be superseded by the "Temash" ultra-low-power APU in 2013, which will also feature "Jaguar" cores.

Image source: AMD.