The difference between Ryzen 7040H and 7040HS is regional availability
This is not really news, but we have seen some readers being confused about Ryzen 7040H/7040HS AMD series. The company has recently explained that the H variant is only for the Chinese market, while the rest of the world will get the HS variant.
The Ryzen 7040 series are the latest laptop processors from AMD, based on the Zen4 architecture and the Phoenix silicon. The silicon comes in different versions, depending on the TDP (7040U/7040U/Ryzen Z1) or the socket (FP7/FP8 etc.). The 7040H/HS models in particular have caused some confusion, as they are different from the previous generations.
The Zen3 based Ryzen 5000HS series had a lower default power of 35W, matching the Intel Tiger Lake-H35 series. This means they had less room headroom than the 5000H-series with a default TDP of 45W. This was also true for both 6000HS and 6000H SKUs.
With Ryzen 7040HS and 7040H series, things are not that clear anymore. The specs are mostly the same, including CPU and GPU clocks, and TDP. There are some minor differences in official specs, such as AMD EXPO being listed as available for 7940HS but not for 7940H, but those could be errors by AMD, which unfortunately happen regularly on the company’s website.
And speaking of the AMD website, it has recently been updated to clarify that Ryzen 7040H series are exclusive to Mainland China, while 7040HS will be available in NA, EMEA, APJ, LATAM regions. This is the main difference between the two series.
Ryzen 9 7940H (March & July), Source: AMD
As said, this is not really news but many Ryzen 7040HS launch reports (including ours) did not mention this information. It may be important to understand the distinction between the two series, as three new laptops by Lenovo, ASUS and Machenike with Ryzen 7040H APUs have just been announced for the Chinese market. Interestingly, some of them will not have discrete graphics and will have a higher TDP of 65W.
Upcoming Ryzen 7040H laptops, Source: Various
Source: AMD (7940HS), AMD (7940H)