AMD Navi 21 is not even here yet, but references to its successor have already been found in new macOS.
AMD Navi 31, even Bigger Navi?
AMD is set to announce its Big Navi aka NAVI 21 aka Sienna Cichlid later this year. This is the part we have all been waiting for and we have been hearing about from AMD for a long time. While the part is still likely months away, its successor based on RDNA 3X architecture is already making an appearance in the macOS 11 Big Sur Apple operating system.
Apple introduced the new macOS during the WWDC conference earlier this week. This is the first OS to support Apple’s own ARM-based Silicon. HardwareLeaks today reported that the macOS 11 GPU drivers already contain references to Navi 31, which basically confirms that Apple and AMD will collaborate to deliver high-end graphics to macOS users.
Both Navi 21 and Navi 31 are expected to be launched under Radeon RX and Radeon Pro series. The latter is likely to be used by Apple for Macs.
References to Navi 31 in macOS 11 Big Sur
This is not the first time we are hearing about Navi 31. Last year Komachi found references to such a chip. He also found many more codenames connected to gaming consoles.
Navi 31 (NV31) as reported by Komachi in December 2019
Cezanne
Cezanne, AMD’s upcoming APU series is expected to feature Zen3 core architecture. Just a few days ago Komachi discovered an ID referring to CZN_RENOIR, which could suggest that Cezanne and Renoir share more than we previously expected. What the new leak suggests is that Big Sir OS does indeed have early references and possibly support for the new APU series.
References to Cezanne, Van Gogh, Navi 22 in macOS 11 Big Sur
Radeon Instinct MI100 and MI200
The Arcturus project was not abandoned, although we have not heard anything about it from AMD for a while now. What we know is that Arcturus will be AMD’s first CDNA-based graphics accelerator. This is the new Radeon Instinct accelerator codenamed MI100. However, AMD is already working on an even faster model called MI200. At this point, we are not sure how both are connected, but one would guess that MI200 could be dual-GPU, as the numbers next MI___ are floating-point performance targets.
References to MI100 and MI200 in macOS 11 Big Sur
Furthermore, there are references to Navi 22 (successor to just released Navi 12) and Navi 23 (likely successor to Navi 14):
- 0x73A0 (Navi22)
- 0x73A2 (Navi22)
- 0x73A3 (Navi22)
- 0x73AB (Navi22)
- 0x73AE (Navi22)
- 0x73BF (Navi23)
Source: HardwareLeaks
