- Asus acquired the Next Unit of Computing (NUC) division from Intel back in 2023.
- Recently, a company spokesperson confirmed that the 'NUC 13 Extreme' which was made by Intel will not be updated.
- At CES 2024, Asus launched the brand-new ROG NUC for gamers along with a new NUC 14 Pro & NUC 14 Pro+.
The Intel NUC lineup of personal computers is now officially dead. We knew this was coming when Asus acquired the NUC division from Intel back in October 2023. Back then, Asus was looking forward to expanding its product portfolio with the small yet incredibly capable mini PCs to be sold under the New Unit of Computing (NUC) branding.
Recently, an Asus spokesperson clarified to Fudzilla.com that “the company won’t have an update to the NUC Extreme 7.5 liter device”. Essentially, this marks the end of Intel-based NUCs. The last of its kind, made by Intel, is notably the NUC 13 Extreme Kit, which came with a Core i9-13900K Raptor Lake 13th Gen processor.
With Asus acquiring the NUC division, the mini PC era is definitely not over. In fact, not only will Asus continue further development of these small form factor PCs, but the company has already unveiled a new ROG NUC, which will tease on-the-go gamers pretty hard. After CES 2024, the curtains have been lifted, and we can now see what Asus has been cooking under the hood.
Post Death of Intel NUC, Asus Unveils Full Lineup at CES 2024
The latest ROG NUC packs Intel’s latest Core Ultra processors (up to Core Ultra 9 185H) paired with Nvidia’s RTX 40 Series discrete GPUs. A small mini ITX personal computer with RTX 4070 will surely be way bigger, even when portability is the main focus.
The ROG NUC is 2.5 litres in volume. It boasts an impressive, super slim form factor and weighs 800 grams only. Overall, Asus has already impressed us with the ROG NUC. This does not have a battery like a laptop does, essentially functioning like a mini gaming desktop.
Along with this, Asus has unveiled two other PCs, known as the NUC 14 Pro and NUC 14 Pro+, at CES 2024. The NUC 14 Pro+ gets up to Intel Core Ultra 9 and is touted with performance capabilities which is “besting all other competitive mini-PCs.” The NUC 14 Pro, on the other hand, features up to Intel Core Ultra 7, and it is an Intel vPro Enterprise-ready device.
Overall, the new era of Asus NUC is upon us, and the brand is bringing some exciting options. These new Asus-based NUCs are ready for the era of AI-based personal computing, packing the brand-new Neural Processing Unit (NPU), which facilitates massive improvements for AI workloads, including offline (device-based) processing.
What are your thoughts on the death of Intel NUCs and the birth of Asus ones instead? Let us know in the comments below.
