macOS Big Sur driver code hints at mysterious AMD Navi 31 GPU

Apple’s incoming OS gives us our first confirmation of RDNA 3

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We’re still be waiting for theAMDNavi 21 to appear, but its successor may have already been outed courtesy ofApple.

As spotted byHardware Leaks, Apple’smacOS 11 Big SurDeveloper Beta 1 has given the so-called AMD Navi 31 graphics card its first major leak. The GPU is referenced in AMD’s Apple drivers, and gives us our first hint that Team  Red has RDNA 3-based GPUs in the works.

The Big Sur slip-up also appears to confirm that while Apple is looking to move away fromIntelCPUs in favour of its ownARM-based Apple Silicon, it’s planning to stick to ARM dGPUs, for the time being at least.

Apple’s leaky macOS code also lists six incoming incomingBig Navi GPUs- five Navi 22 and one Navi 23 graphics card. This in addition to the previously-spotted support for Navi 21,which is expected to feature inside Apple’s next-generation iMac.

This adds weight to earlier rumors that AMD’s RDNA 2-based Navi 22 will be an Apple-exclusive.

As if that wasn’t enough, the macOS 11 driver also lists AMD’s Radeon Instinct MI100 and MI200 graphics accelerator, and also shows references to to the upcomingAMD Cezanneand Van Gough APUs; the former will be an Zen 3-part with a Vega CPU, while the latter will be an ultra-low power APU comprising a Zen 2 CPU and RDNA 2 GPU.

Given Apple has said it’s transition to ARM-based silicon will take two-years, this could be a sign that new MacBooks with AMD APUs are in the works for the first time.

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This isn’t the first time we’ve been teased with the possibility of Apple releasing an AMD-powered MacBook. Earlier this year,references spotted in the code of macOS Catalina also suggested that AMD APUs were coming to Apple’s laptop lineup.

Carly Page is a Freelance journalist, copywriter and editor specialising in Consumer/B2B technology. She has written for a range of titles including Computer Shopper, Expert Reviews, IT Pro, the Metro, PC Pro, TechRadar and Tes.

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