AMD's latest APU beefs up laptop graphics, brings 4K and FreeSync support

AMD has lifted the lid on its 7th-generation accelerated processing unit (APU), named Bristol Ridge.

If you're thinking about picking up a laptop for streaming 4K (or Ultra HD) video and delving into some light gaming, it may be worth holding on to see how new laptops featuring the APU fare in the benchmark stakes. Announced at the same time, HP's 4K display-equipped Envy x360 is powered by AMD FX 9800P quad-core processor and is the first to tuck the new APU under the hood.

Initially appearing in laptops, Bristol Ridge is being made available in dual and quad-core configurations. It pairs AMD's 7th-gen AMD FX processor with Radeon R7 graphics that the company claims is 18% more powerful compared to those in sixth-gen Carizzo APUs. AMD reckons Bristol Ridge is also up to 50% faster in the compute department compared to its Kaveri-based APU that debuted in 2014.

Bristol Ridge, which succeeds AMD's 6th-gen Carrizo APU, uses the AMD4 form-factor and is made using the existing 'Excavator' core that's manufactured on the 28nm fabrication process.

It arrives with a number of features in tow, including support for streaming 4K (or Utra HD) video, DirectX 12 in Windows 10, DDR4 memory and AMD's FreeSync frame-smoothing tech.

It will be showcased alongside unseen laptop designs in June at Computex 2016, where AMD is set to unveil more information about its Bristol Ridge-based desktop APUs.