AMD Linux Patches Introduce New "Low Power" CPU Core Type

AMD has published Linux kernel patches introducing a new "low power" CPU core type. This hints at a future hybrid architecture similar to Intel's "big.LITTLE" design (performance cores + efficiency cores). Currently, AMD's Ryzen and EPYC processors use identical cores across all chips. The patches add kernel infrastructure to recognize and schedule tasks on a separate low-power core type, suggesting AMD is preparing to ship chips with two different core designs — likely for better battery life in laptops or efficiency in servers. No hardware has been announced yet; the patches are early preparation in Linux, which already supports hybrid architectures for Intel and ARM.