Intel Discontinues its NUC Product Range

[Minus Infinity]

So... no Meteor Lake NUCs? A shame... Just when they upgraded the iGPU and made the switch to DDR5.

Huh? Just becuase Intel won't be making their own NUC's they just said they will work with others to help deliver NUC's. Should be plenty of Meteor Lake based NUC's eventually by third parties.

 

[A Computer Guy]

After the US gov't catches up to the PC industry with it's energy use, to save the environment, and mandates only <85w PC's are allowed in the retail market so there is enough energy to charge EV's in 2036 among the rolling blackouts, NUC's will make a strong comeback after a splurge of subsidies to NUC manufacturers (with significant stock holdings tied to politicians) on the backs of US taxpayers.

Of course I'm joking but we live in strange and uncertain times.

But more on point to the topic I've always liked the idea of a NUC but it seemed a bit expensive for what it was and was discouraged from getting one. These days with greater prevalence of internet connected large TV's it's kind of nice to have an ultra small SFF PC box for internet and multimedia or even just a SFF PC that's not an actual laptop that's easy to put anywhere like on a bookshelf, on the desk, or mounted to the back of the monitor.

The new AMD like NUC's are cool but still not exactly cheap for a good one unless you find a good newegg or amazon special deal that pops up from time to time. I got my mother an HM80 and was rather surprised by what it could do at such low wattage as it just might be the last PC she will ever use for her use cases dealing with internet tabs and spreadsheets and got to thinking perhaps I underestimated what the NUC had to offer all these years and where would we be today without the neat idea of a really tiny PC that didn't have an Apple logo on it. So on that note it's kind of sad to see Intel stepping away from NUC.

 

[wheresmycar]

Board meeting memo:

Intel: "good things come in small packages"

Consumer marketing report: "....and small price tags"

Intel: OH! scrap that!

 

[uftfa]

I hope I can scoop up a 12th-gen element card at a fire-sale price for my Ghost Canyon NUC. I have it paired with an RTX 3080, and it makes for such an amazing PC for use with my TV - both gaming and media.

 

[AusWolf]

Oh no! This is the second saddest news from Intel since the discontinuation of the Compute Stick.

Hopefully will find a few of them on fire sale in the coming months! Always wanted to get one but they were too expensive for what they genreally offered.

Same here.

 

[somethinggeneric]

Never understood how the NUC concept made it to market, let alone survived this long. They're cool toys, but not much apart from that.

NUCs were great from an enterprise perspective when everyone just worked in the office. They were small, quiet and easy to deploy. The issue they ran into (at least from every company I worked at) was that laptops were just plain better in every regard, and especially with Covid there was a huge demand to be able to work from multiple locations. Sure you could take the NUC with you (very easy to do) but since it lacked a keyboard, screen, mouse and power source you needed to have or bring those too.

 

[Chrispy_]

RIP NUC
I thought they were neat and probably the most accessible of the ultra-SFF boxes. Not necessarily the best, but often the most sensible balance of size, noise, power, and cost.

The NUC Extreme things that were overpriced, overcomplicated, oversized, 101% proprietary gaming rigs with the most godawful motherboards ever can die in a fire. They will not be missed, but that's primarily because they were so dumb nobody actually ever bought one.

 

[QUANTUMPHYSICS]

I don't see the point. Considering the specs, better to just get a small laptop.

 

[wheresmycar]

I don't see the point. Considering the specs, better to just get a small laptop.

Seeing how high-end NUCs were priced yeah i'd prefer a laptop too. At the right price, NUCs or super small form factor builds have their uses... primarly cutting costs for low-end units for a clean desktop setup or server like functionality. Some years ago i picked up a used cheapie Fujitsu Esprimo mini PC "with a built-in dvd drive", modded a hook up to the back of a 24" display and used the VESA mount for a swinging wall bracket. A very functional setup for the then intended use case.

 

[KLMR]

I was an enthusiats of those PCs but after some generations I ended up buying laptops as replacement. Included a mousetab, keyboard, battery backup and screen for the same price. Sometimes more silent and with a discrete GPU. For 100€-150€ of the barebone? No brainer. Some people was happier having an extra screen and connectivity was usually better. Also de extra for vpro? well...

The problem with nucs was always the noise and the price. Something they didn't solve in a decade.

 

[AleXXX666]

Plenty of mini PC manufacturers out there anyway and this period of time Ryzen looks like a better option thanks to it's iGPU and newer manufacturing process.
If Intel fixes it's manufacturing in the near future and also improves it's iGPUs we might see them resurrecting this line, because they will have something to sell.

this is no gaming devices.....

Not surprised, considering how expensive NUCs are compared to the competition.

build quality... I wouldn't get ASRock or giga any day lol

 

[john_]

this is no gaming devices.....

Having also some iGPU power is preferable than not and many prefer going with an AMD based mini PC for that reason. NUCs and many mini PCs are advertised also for use in home, we are not talking for OEM boxes that will go in offices and only run office. Also nice options for the kids room, where someone might not want to put a huge desktop.
So it's not just office machines and many manufacturers who where Intel only in the past are today offering AMD based models. Obviously there wasn't a sudden need for stronger iGPU in the office space, but the market fot NUC and mini PCs at home, is significant.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

@T0@st

This TPU article should really be updated...

Intel and ASUS Agree to Term Sheet to Take Intel NUC Systems Product Line Forward

www.intel.com

Future Intel NUCs will be made by Asus

Intel won't be making its own tiny computers anymore, but Asus will take over current and future models thanks to a new agreement.

www.xda-developers.com

ASUS Signs Agreement to Continue Development and Support of Intel's NUC Business

www.anandtech.com

 

[wheresmycar]

@T0@st

This TPU article should really be updated...

Intel and ASUS Agree to Term Sheet to Take Intel NUC Systems Product Line Forward

www.intel.com

Future Intel NUCs will be made by Asus

Intel won't be making its own tiny computers anymore, but Asus will take over current and future models thanks to a new agreement.

www.xda-developers.com

ASUS Signs Agreement to Continue Development and Support of Intel's NUC Business

www.anandtech.com

Glad to hear it!

I could see myself once again repurposing an unused display with a NUC (or similar) stuck to the back.

I wander what happened between "We have decided to stop direct investment in the Next Unit of Compute (NUC)......" to "we're back baby"

 

[FreedomEclipse]

Glad to hear it!

I could see myself once again repurposing an unused display with a NUC (or similar) stuck to the back.

I wander what happened between "We have decided to stop direct investment in the Next Unit of Compute (NUC)......" to "we're back baby"

Probably:

 

[trsttte]

I wander what happened between "We have decided to stop direct investment in the Next Unit of Compute (NUC)......" to "we're back baby"

I think you're misreading it a bit, what happened is Intel decided developing NUCs wasn't worth their time and effort and Asus decided to officially pick up the slack and trademark because there's obviously money to be made there and it complements other mini pcs offerings from asus pretty well.

What's weird is the two announcements, the deal had to be in progress before Intel announced it was dropping NUCs so why release the information like that!? I mean, in a way it's our damn fault for watching every piece of news, they simply made a statement that they wouldn't invest directly on that market and now comes the real announcement that Asus will take up the nuc branding though without exclusivity (other could also do it)

 

[Deleted member 229121]

^ Well like you said they are both a really good fit for the deal.
I'm sure it was sorted easily over some golf, scotch, and debauchery (as one does in business).

 

[AleXXX666]

Having also some iGPU power is preferable than not and many prefer going with an AMD based mini PC for that reason. NUCs and many mini PCs are advertised also for use in home, we are not talking for OEM boxes that will go in offices and only run office. Also nice options for the kids room, where someone might not want to put a huge desktop.
So it's not just office machines and many manufacturers who where Intel only in the past are today offering AMD based models. Obviously there wasn't a sudden need for stronger iGPU in the office space, but the market fot NUC and mini PCs at home, is significant.

this is dumb excuse same as of people who buy laptop for home use because "desktop takes a whole room".
for kids gaming, either you buy normal "gaming" PC or kids are ok with their non-demanding games with modern Intel iGPUs.

 

[john_]

this is dumb excuse same as of people who buy laptop for home use because "desktop takes a whole room".
for kids gaming, either you buy normal "gaming" PC or kids are ok with their non-demanding games with modern Intel iGPUs.

When I see people putting laughing smiles in my comments and then posting "this is dump" as the ultimate argument, I throw them in my ignore list.
Have a nice day.

PS Yeah I understand people like you who believe that only hardware with Intel or Nvidia stickers are options. Your posts wouldn't be missed.

 

[AusWolf]

this is dumb excuse same as of people who buy laptop for home use because "desktop takes a whole room".
for kids gaming, either you buy normal "gaming" PC or kids are ok with their non-demanding games with modern Intel iGPUs.

Desktop doesn't take the whole room, but it does take a much bigger chunk of desk space compared to a NUC or some other form of mini PC. Some people like showing off their bad-ass gaming rigs as their ultimate decoration piece, while others prefer as much desk space as possible. I don't see why trying to find a balance would be wrong.