AMD Plans to Bring FSR 4 Upscaling to Handheld Gaming Devices by End of 2026

Jack Huynh, who leads consumer chip products at chipmaker AMD, has said the company intends to bring its FSR 4 technology to some handheld gaming devices by the end of this year. FSR 4 is a machine-learning-based technique that boosts frame rates in games. Until now, AMD had promised it only for desktop graphics cards.

Huynh told the Korean publication The Elec that the technology, first introduced for external graphics cards, will be extended across the product range, including APUs (processors with integrated graphics), gaming laptops and handheld devices. He described two directions: support for existing APUs and new product lines.

What remains unclear

According to The Elec, a new APU and a lightweight FSR 4 model for APUs are both due by year's end. The outlet does not say whether that lightweight model is meant specifically for handhelds. The Verge speculates that it may require AMD's upcoming chips, the Ryzen Z3 and/or "Gainsborough", which have been leaked. So it is still uncertain whether the feature will reach existing devices or whether buyers will need new hardware.

The earlier statement

In June, AMD executive David McAfee told Tom's Guide that the company wanted to make sure the experience and quality were right, and that FSR 4 needed a sufficient amount of compute in the product to make sense. That suggested older handheld chips might go unsupported, although some older laptop chips could qualify.

FSR 4 can already be used unofficially on devices as old as the Steam Deck. Valve has said it is working with AMD to bring FSR 4 to the console-grade AMD APU in the Steam Machine, but it has not made the same commitment for the Steam Deck handhelds.

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