AMD unveils new line of commercial-grade PRO A-Series APUs
Business users and home users can have very different, yet sometimes similar, needs. A family computer likely doesn't need the latest and greatest features or specs for its basic use. While the same can be said for some business workstations, new technology can often mean true benefits, such as enhanced security and improved battery life. While home users can use that too, it is arguably more important for business users that are traveling and dealing with sensitive information.
Today, AMD announces its newest line of PRO APUs -- both mobile and desktop -- to meet the needs of businesses. These commercial-grade A-Series APUs offer improved laptop battery life and performance, but also cool things such as HSA 1.0 spec compatibility and ARM TrustZone for security. In other words, these chips should be big winners in the enterprise.
"The AMD PRO A-Series mobile processors offer a breakthrough APU architecture with long battery life, power and efficiency optimized to meet the evolving needs of enterprise computing and collaboration. The mobile AMD PRO processers are engineered for today's on-the-go, unplugged workforce with mobile-ready features, built-in security and manageability that drive nonstop productivity and peace of mind", says AMD.
The company further explains, "the AMD PRO A-Series desktop processors offer an aggressive price with enhanced performance, socket compatibility for easy upgrades and an opportunity for richer configurations. The desktop AMD PRO processors also solve for today's graphics-intensive workloads by including award-winning AMD Radeon graphics. With support for AMD Quick Stream PRO, the new AMD PRO desktop processors virtually eliminate the lag in latency-sensitive applications like VoIP and streaming video. AMD Quick Stream PRO uses built-in intelligence to identify and allot more bandwidth for businesses' highest priority applications".
Laptop users will be most excited by the all-new PRO A12 mobile APU. This chip features a 3.4GHz CPU, and an octa-core R7 GPU at 800MHz. Users should expect amazing performance -- desktop-grade -- from the APU.
Strangely, the mobile processors are only being offered by one manufacturer, HP. It is not clear the reason for this, but AMD specifically says the chips are exclusive to HP's EliteBook 705 series (725, 745 and 755). In other words, it sounds like the sole OEM partnership is by design, and not because of a lack of interest. Quite frankly, HP makes damn-good computers, so it is moot. Want these new mobile AMD Pro APUs? Buy an HP. Easy as that.
On the desktop front, however, both HP and Lenovo will be using Pro APUs. AMD says, "the AMD PRO A-Series desktop processors are available today through online resellers and are currently offered on Lenovo M79 Tower, HP EliteDesk 705 Micro Tower PCs and Small Form Factor PCs from both HP and Lenovo".
You can learn more about AMD PRO A-Series APUs here.