Leaked: Nvidia's mysterious new APU could shake up the laptop world

Phone Arena

02-06-2025

Image Credit – BoliviaInteligente on Unsplash
Despite many expectations, Nvidia didn't reveal a new chip for consumer laptops during Computex 2025. However, the silence doesn't necessarily mean Nvidia isn't working on anything, and a new leak proves it actually is.
The leak comes from YouTube challenge Moore's Law is Dead. A rough image of what could be a new Nvidia APU designed for gaming laptops is shown in the leak, with not much information available.
According to the leak, the APU may run between 80W and 120W. The YouTuber's source expects the company to be targeting a Q4 2025 or Q1 2026 release for this new. Reportedly, the leak comes from an Nvidia insider who tests APUs, so it seems rather credible.
The leaked APU. | Image Credit - Moore's Law is Dead
The APU is branded "Eng Sample" on the image. It appears to have eight modules surrounding the main chip. These could be LPDDR5x memory modules that may be similar to what AMD is working on with its Strix Halo APUs. In AMD's solution, the chip relies on the speedy memory that is attached to it, which boosts performance. However, AMD's chips have an x86 architecture. However, this leaked Nvidia APU is likely using an ARM CPU built by MediaTek, as well as an integrated GPU that's entirely new. The card seems to run at up to 115W. When you take this into account, this could mean a huge breakthrough for gaming laptops. Think about it – there may be no extra heat created by a discrete GPU, so you need less space needed for extra cooling, as Windows Central rightfully underlines. And of course, this would bring improvements in battery life as well. This aspect is significant for gaming laptops, which have historically struggled with battery life and continue to do so even in 2025. Nvidia is not the first company to be trying this. However, it may actually win the game. Nvidia's GPU tech, including DLSS 4, is already very high-performing. Now, let's get detailed for a bit. The key here is we're talking about an APU. An APU is an Accelerated Processing Unit, a new term created by AMD that advertises a CPU and GPU built into the same chip. This may sound pretty similar to a System-on-Chip (SoC), but there's one key difference. The SoC incorporates more than just the CPU and GPU, it also integrates controllers, networking chips, and other components. The SoC also nowadays includes a Neural Processing Unit, or an NPU, which handles local Artificial Intelligence tasks. For example, Qualcomm's Snapdragon X chips that are on Copilot+ PCs are SoC. Back in 2023, rumors about Nvidia working on an APU surfaced online. Then, both AMD and Nvidia were rumored to be working on ARM processors for Windows PCs. Back then, it was said these chips would launch sometime in 2025, and this even led Intel stocks to plummet. Nvidia is also powering the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 with its Tegra T239, which is an APU with an ARM processor and an Ampere GPU. Meanwhile, the company has also been focused on DGX Spark, which is an AI supercomputer platform, sporting Nvidia's GB10 Grace Blackwell chip. Judging by this leak and recent developments, it seems Nvidia is ready to move past its GPU-only focus and aim its brilliance at the Windows laptop world, ready to claim a dominant role. Of course, it's worth noting that this leaked APU is not confirmed by the company, announced, or teased just yet. So we may need to wait until it becomes official to know for certain how well it will perform.
Nevertheless, we expect an efficient ARM CPU coupled with an integrated Nvidia GPU to make some wonders for gaming laptops. Especially with all of Nvidia's AI upscaling and frame generation.