AMD Zen 6 “Medusa” APUs appear in early Geekbench leaks, and the results look promising
AMD’s next generation of laptop processors may already be showing its strength. Early benchmark entries for several upcoming AMD “Medusa” APUs, based on the Zen 6 CPU architecture, have surfaced in the Geekbench database, giving an early preview of what future mainstream notebooks could deliver.
The leaked results appear to come from Lenovo test systems that are expected to be part of the company’s future AMD-powered laptop lineup, likely targeting 2027 devices. Since these chips are still engineering samples, the numbers should not be treated as final. Even so, the early performance is already impressive, especially in single-core testing.
The Medusa APU lineup shown in the database includes 10-core, 8-core, and 6-core configurations. The highest-end sample spotted so far is a 10-core chip using a hybrid layout of 4 Zen 6 cores and 6 Zen 6C cores. This model was tested with 64 GB of DDR5-5200 memory.
Two additional configurations appear to belong to Medusa Point 2 and Medusa Point 3 variants. The 8-core version reportedly uses 2 Zen 6 cores alongside 6 Zen 6C cores, while the 6-core model includes 1 Zen 6 core and 5 Zen 6C cores. The listings also show different family identifiers, with the Medusa Point 1 chip appearing as “AuthenticAMD Family 26 Model 129,” while the Medusa Point 2/3 parts are listed as “AuthenticAMD Family 26 Model 224.”
In Geekbench 6, the 10-core AMD Medusa engineering sample shows a notable single-core uplift. It reportedly scores around 15% higher than current high-end AMD laptop chips such as the Ryzen AI MAX+ 395 and Ryzen AI 9 HX 470, even though those existing processors can operate at clocks above 5.00 GHz.
Multi-core performance also looks strong. The 10-core Medusa sample is said to be around 6% faster than the Ryzen AI 9 HX 470 in multi-threaded testing and comes close to the 16-core Ryzen AI MAX+ 395 when that chip is configured at 54W. That is an encouraging result, considering the Medusa chip has fewer cores and is still in an early testing phase.
Geekbench 7 results make the picture even more interesting. Using comparison data from the Geekbench database, the 10-core Zen 6 Medusa sample appears to be 28% faster in single-core performance than the Ryzen AI MAX+ 395 and 32% faster than the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370.
The lower-core Medusa APUs also show major gains. The 8-core engineering sample is reportedly 23.7% faster in single-core testing than the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, while the 6-core version is around 25.1% faster than the 6-core Ryzen AI 5 340.
Multi-core results are just as encouraging. The 10-core Medusa APU reportedly outperforms the 12-core Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 by 21.5%, despite having fewer total cores. It also gets close to the Ryzen AI MAX+ 395, which is currently one of AMD’s strongest mobile processors. Meanwhile, the 8-core Medusa sample appears to match the 12-core Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, and the 6-core version is shown as up to 18% faster than its current-generation counterpart.
These results suggest that AMD’s Zen 6 architecture could bring a significant generational jump in instructions-per-clock performance, efficiency, or both. Since these are not final retail chips, actual shipping products may perform even better after firmware tuning, clock optimization, and platform refinements.
The leaks also offer an early look at AMD’s next integrated graphics design. The 10-core Medusa sample includes an RDNA 4m-based iGPU listed as “GFX1170.” This graphics unit reportedly features 4 compute units and combines design elements from RDNA 3.5 and RDNA 4.
In OpenCL testing, the GFX1170 iGPU scored 22,249 points. For comparison, the Radeon 840M, which also has 4 compute units but uses RDNA 3.5, scores around 12,019 points in the same test. That means the new 4-CU RDNA 4m graphics solution is dramatically faster than the current 4-CU option.
The result is also higher than the Radeon 860M, which has 6 RDNA 3.5 compute units and scores around 20,642 points. It still trails the Radeon 880M, which uses 8 RDNA 3.5 compute units and scores around 26,814 points, but the fact that a 4-CU RDNA 4m iGPU can compete so closely with larger current-generation graphics solutions is a strong sign for future thin-and-light laptops.
If these early benchmarks are accurate, AMD’s Medusa APUs could be a major step forward for mainstream laptops. The Zen 6 CPU cores appear to deliver strong single-threaded gains, while the Zen 6C cores help maintain competitive multi-core performance in compact power envelopes. At the same time, the RDNA 4m integrated graphics could give entry-level and mid-range notebooks a meaningful boost in GPU performance without needing a dedicated graphics chip.
For laptop buyers, this could translate into faster everyday performance, better multitasking, stronger AI PC capabilities, improved battery efficiency, and more capable integrated graphics for light gaming and creative workloads.
The biggest takeaway is that AMD’s Zen 6 Medusa APUs are already showing impressive results while still in engineering sample form. If final silicon improves further, AMD may have a very competitive mobile platform ready for the next wave of mainstream laptops.
