Intel To Stop Producing NUC Mini PCs

Computers have come a long way since their creation. Originally, computers were massive constructs that could fill an entire room, but these days powerful processors can be found in everything from full-blooded personal computers to the tiniest of smartphones. One such iteration of the home computer comes from Intel, and these mini-desktops are usually called NUC PCs. NUC is an acronym, and it stands for "Next Unit of Compute," which means that NUC PCs are much smaller than normal desktop computers.

However, it seems as if Intel is moving away from the production of NUC computers, as confirmed by Engadget, which speculates that the shift from NUCs results from a computer market where demand is sinking. Competition from other mini-desktops has essentially pushed Intel out of the market. This doesn't mean anything different for the rest of Intel, just that it's refocusing its efforts on making computer processing chips and not the production of Intel-branded mini-computers.

[Featured image by Namenloser Hobbyhistoriker via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY-SA 4.0]

Surprisingly, Intel's NUC computers represented one of the last PC offerings from the company, and the transition away from NUCs is a sign that Intel is now completely out of the pre-built PC market. Besides creating processors and chips, Intel will continue supporting other developers' efforts in making NUC computers and gladly offer their technology to their partners. Still, this highlights an end of an era for the legendary manufacturer.

The first NUC computers hit the market in 2013, and these offerings were usually incredibly pared down compared to a normal PC. To get a NUC to a small size, technology and power had to be sacrificed. However, NUC computers continued to evolve over the years, with some iterations getting dedicated graphics cards, like the Intel NUC 12 Extreme "Dragon Canyon," which is shocking when most NUC motherboards measured just four inches by four inches. Despite Intel exiting the production of their NUC mini-computers, these tiny computers can still be found by other manufacturers, such as Apple's Mac Mini, and Intel's chips will continue to pop up in NUC computers from other producers — you'll just never see a brand new NUC computer specifically from Intel.

[Featured image by Kent Madsen via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY-SA 4.0]