It seems that PC gamers are not the only ones making the move to AMD.

Codenames for AMD APUs (Accelerated Processor Units) have been discovered in the macOS Catalina code. These codenames include Picasso, Raven, Renoir, and Van Gogh.

Apple already switched its graphics processors from Nvidia to AMD in 2016. Currently, MacBook laptops have Intel processors and high-end 16-inch machines have AMD GPUs. However, if Apple were to switch entirely to AMD, it would be a major blow to the blue processor maker.

The advantages of utilizing APUs, chips where the processor and GPU are on the same die, are higher power efficiency and potentially better code optimization.

For example, if Apple switched to the upcoming Ryzen 3 4300U chip, the Renoir APU, users could see a modest upgrade in performance. According to leaked benchmarks, the Ryzen 3 4300U is 3% faster than the 8th generation Intel Core i7-8565U. While this is not an insane amount of power increase, the real advantage may come in graphics performance.

Intel's integrated graphics have always left something to be desired, and if AMD can come out with an APU with moderately improved graphics performance, it would be a huge leap forward in the thin and light laptop category. It should be noted that AMD's silicon is 6% faster when compared to Intel's new 10th generation Core i5-10210U chip.

Another advantage is that AMD's top-of-the-line APUs will have a maximum core count of 8 cores and 16 threads; compared to Intel's high-end 10th generation Core i7-10710U with 6 cores and 12 threads, AMD is out of the league.

This discovery comes a month after rumors began circulating that Apple would make a $5,000 gaming PC. If Apple is indeed developing a high-end gaming machine, it could use AMD processors and GPUs.

While these are promising rumors for Apple's next machine, the changes do not necessarily make the Mac a viable gaming laptop; Psyonix announced last month that it would end macOS support for its hugely popular "Rocket League" game.