AMD to bring FSR 4 to handhelds by the end of 2026, executive says

"We will expand the machine learning AI-based FSR4 technology, which was first introduced to existing external graphics cards, to the entire product line including APUs, gaming laptops, and handheld devices by the end of this year," Huynh told the Korean publication The Elec, according to a Google translation of his remarks. "We plan to respond in two directions: launching existing APUs and new product lines."

The Elec reported that the comments point to two products arriving before the year is out: a new accelerated processing unit and a lightweight version of FSR 4 built for APUs. AMD had previously promised FSR 4 only for desktop graphics cards, not the APUs that power laptops and handhelds.

The report does not say whether the lightweight FSR 4 model is coming to handhelds specifically, and it arrived alongside news that AMD is releasing a new FSR4-capable chip. That leaves open whether owners of current devices will need new hardware, such as AMD's leaked upcoming Ryzen Z3 or the chip codenamed Gainsborough, to use the technology.

AMD first signaled caution about older handhelds in June. David McAfee, an AMD executive, told Tom's Guide that "we want to make sure the experience and the quality is right," and that FSR 4 would need "a sufficient amount of compute within that product" to make sense. The implication was that some older laptop chips may qualify while some older handheld chips do not.

FSR 4 can already be made to work on handhelds as old as the Steam Deck through unofficial means, but not with AMD's official backing. Valve has said it is working with AMD to bring FSR 4 to the console-grade AMD APU inside the Steam Machine, but it has not committed to doing the same for the Steam Deck handheld.

AMD did not immediately respond to a request to clarify Huynh's statement.