Just posting for awareness. I have official confirmation that the new AI300 mainboards have a purposeful regression in SmartShift support - they officially do NOT support it on the new platform:
I am super disappointed in this regression and I hate the path that Framework seems to be heading down - becoming just another generic OEM. I thought partnering with AMD through the AMD Advantage program was a step in the right direction but it doesn’t seem that way anymore.
What does this feature do?
Did FW support it for this product but no longer do?
It’s a feature available when you have an AMD APU and GPU, and dynamically allocates power between the APU and GPU based on system demand. The 7040 series main board when paired with the 7700S supported this feature. The new AI300 main boards do not.
I suppose that is better than AMD’s track record - they have removed features in a BIOS update for the same product 
To be honest, I doubt this supports it either. There is no bios setting for it.
When I had the 7940 HS main board, the AMD adrenaline software would show SmartShift as active and would show the graph balancing power between the APU and GPU, so it was definitely working. After upgrading to the the hx370, the setting shows as disabled and there’s no way to enable it. I’m not aware of any mandatory bios setting that has to be exposed for the feature to be functional. From what I understand it’s based purely on driver level power management and is enabled by certain firmware flags in the bios or chipset indicating that the platform is authentic AMD
When I was going back and forth with support, they were also under the impression that the feature should be enabled on the framework 16, but it seems they were running off of the scripts for the 7040 series, because the final representative I got in touch with was able to confirm that the feature was not present in the new main board series
This was their first response to my inquiry. They had me go through a full system reinstall, telling me that that would re-enable smartshift. There are a few more exchanges where they suggest other things (upgrade bios, use ddu and reinstall adrenalin, reset bios) to try to get it enabled before the screenshotted email in OP was finally sent, confirming that everybody before them was incorrect.
Thank you for contacting Framework Support.
We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused. We are here to help.
Since the mainboard was upgraded from an AMD Ryzen™ 9 7940HS to an AMD Ryzen™ AI 9 HX 370, could you please confirm whether you performed a fresh installation of Windows after the upgrade, or if you continued using the existing Windows installation from the previous mainboard?
As this involves a mainboard replacement/upgrade to a different platform, we generally recommend performing a fresh installation of Windows. This helps ensure that all drivers, services, and system configurations are properly aligned with the new hardware and can help prevent unexpected issues.
Once the fresh installation of Windows is complete, please install the latest Driver Bundle and verify that AMD SmartShift Max is enabled and functioning correctly. Afterward, please monitor the system and let us know whether the issue persists.
Looking forward to your response.
And just for the record here is my original request
Subject: AMD SmartShift on FW16 AI300 seroes
Support Request Category: Problem with my Framework Product
Was your Framework Product Delivered within the last 30 days?: No it wasn’t
Product: Framework Laptop 16
Framework Laptop 16 Generation: AMD Ryzen AI 300 Series
Operating System: Windows 11
Windows Version: 25H2
BIOS: 3.06
Order number : redacted
Product Issue Selection: BIOS / Driver
Description: Hello,
It seems that after upgrading my Framework 16 from the 7940HS to the HX 370, AMD Software reports that AMD SmartShift is not available. It says it’s only available on “compatible systems with AMD CPUs and dGPUs” - which I thought the Framework 16 was? Is this feature planned for a firmware update? This feature is one of the big draws of the AMD ecosphere and one of the reasons I stay on AMD hardware exclusively. I’m just confused why it worked on the previous version but seems to have been stripped out of this version. The HX 370 datasheet says it supports SmartShift Max. Any info is appreciated!
Can you re-enable it using Smokeless_UMAF?
Can you re-enable it using Smokeless_UMAF?
I had not heard about this tool before just now, but perusing the description doesn’t seem to have any SmartShift parameter modification. I’m not even sure where I would start.
AI 300 series boards also removed bypass charging
I feel like framework has expanded their portfolio far too quickly and product quality is suffering as a result. And from what I’ve read it doesn’t sound like they have the firmware team at the size needed to maintain the number of models they have out in the wild. Early framework laptops were refined and maximally capable, while current machines seem to be the minimal viable shippable product rather than a fully thought out, comprehensive system. In fact, aside from the gains achieved from moving to the next generation of APUs, the ecosystem as a whole seems to be regressing in both feature breadth and depth.
Just adding an idea to stimulate conversation and new avenues for research - could this be a BIOS issue? In other words, the feature is available in the processor and on the mainboard, but it would need a setting to enable it? I don’t know if Insyde have a support dept (they may refer you back to FW) but it might be worth looking into.
From what I’ve read, this is definitely a bios/firmware thing. The data sheet for the AI300 series apus specify that the feature is available. The 7700s supported it with the previous version of apus so I’m not sure why it wouldn’t for the AI series. So it is baked into the silicon that’s on the main board and GPU. But for whatever reason, the firmware appears to be suppressing the feature.
I’d talk to Insyde next then. One might also hope that the in-progress Coreboot port for the FW16 is successful, and becomes safe enough for users to flash themselves. That might be able to switch things on, unencumbered by restrictions that drag down the commercial BIOS makers.
I honestly would just love some clarification from framework as to why this feature was removed in this generation, and if there’s a roadmap to adding it back later
I wonder if you are misreading the import of the support message. You’re seeing it as “yes, we removed it”, whereas I think it is a harried support consultant saying “we don’t explicitly support that thing, it’s not in our internal manuals”.
(I’d mildly be of the view that your title isn’t correct, since the post is not a PSA, and there might not exactly be an official drop here. If the technology was available before, that may have not been supported - just something you got for free because the BIOS maker enabled it).
All that said, @Daniel_Schaefer might be plugged-in enough to give you an inside view.
The biggest causal difference I can think of is that the 7040 series was designed as an AMD Advantage laptop which requires all AMD feature sets. The AI300 series is not validated as AMD Advantage as far as I can tell, which I view as a platform regression.
so have Intel, on multiple occasions. Tiger Lake lost AVX512 support, SGX was retroactively removed from various chips, as was HLE. With the latter, in some cases they just noped the instructions without removing the cpuflag saying it was supported, so the chip still claimed it supported the instructions when it no longer did.
That’s why is not the best choice to update BIOS in a regular basis (TSME retroactive removal and stuff)
It’s worth noting though that Debian and downstream distros send processor microcode updates in normal Apt downloads. Instructions being invisibly turned into NOPs may not need a BIOS update.
same for the microcode package on Linux/BSD
Same for the BSDs. You should always think carefully before installing the microcode updater packages, on both platforms. Windows doesn’t give you a choice. Sadly sometimes a necessary update also results in the loss of something else.
