Don’t wait up for the next generation of Ryzen processors, as recent rumours suggest they may not arrive until late 2026 at the earliest. Thankfully, AMD CPUs built with the upcoming Zen 6 architecture should be compatible with existing Socket AM5 motherboards at least.
These release window rumours come courtesy of leaker Kelper_L2 via their X profile. According to the user, the next series of Ryzen processors are due “late 2026/early 2027 AFAIK.” If true, either estimate would mark the longest gap between architectures since AMD began flying its Zen banner.
| Architecture | Release Date | Time Gap |
|---|---|---|
| Zen 6 | Late 2026 / Early 2027 | 25-31 months |
| Zen 5 | August 2024 | 23 months |
| Zen 4 | September 2022 | 22 months |
| Zen 3 | November 2020 | 16 months |
| Zen 2 | July 2019 | 15 months |
| Zen+ | April 2018 | 13 months |
| Zen | March 2017 | N/A |
For context, it was 23 long months between the launch of Ryzen 7000 (September 2022) and 9000 (August 2024) series processors. ‘Late 2026’ presumably refers to Q4 of the year, placing the launch during October-December. Meanwhile, ‘Early 2027’ points to Q1, or the the months of January-March. If the latter holds true, it seems likely that Zen 6 will pop up at CES.
While this longer gestation period would open the door to competition, AMD seemingly has little to worry about for the foreseeable future given the muted reception of Intel Core Ultra 200S. This feels all the more true given the performance of Ryzen 7 9800X3D and upcoming Ryzen 9 9950X3D & 9900X3D. That’s not forgetting Zen 5 APUs and non-X SKUs too.
It’s worth keeping in mind that the leaker’s release window specifically refers to desktop Zen 6 processors. There’s every chance that AMD could launch mobile chips first, as Ryzen AI 300 series led the charge for Zen 5 ahead of its Ryzen 9000 siblings.
Regardless of when the desktop processors show face, they’ll undoubtedly arrive in tow with a chipset. However, with a BIOS update or too, these Zen 6 chips should be backwards compatible with existing Socket AM5 stock according to Kepler_L2. It’s unclear whether this will be the final family of Ryzen CPUs to support the platform, but it seems likely given AMD’s prior support commitments.
Here’s hoping that a lack of competition doesn’t result in AMD ushering in a new period of stagnation similar to Intel’s offerings during its quad-core era. Come on Intel, get those Core Ultra 200S performance fixes out the door and get to work on Nova Lake.
