The season of Skylake refreshes is upon us, and Intel has gotten around to announcing that its NUC line will be receiving four new computers featuring the sixth generation Intel Core processors. To be fair, there is technically only two versions of the hardware; split between the “tall” and “short” variants of the NUC.
Overall, the NUC hasn’t changed much. The outside still retains the same number of USB ports, although Intel has switched the mini-HDMI port for a full sized HDMI 1.4b port. An SD card reader has also been added to the new models, giving them a whole lot more flexibility and utility. The “tall” version of the NUCs also has SATA3 support for 2.5-inch HDDs or SSDs.
The insides see the introduction of the Intel Core i3-6100U and i5-6560U processors. Naturally, the RAM has been upgraded to DDR4 due to Skylake’s requirements; although it also means that the new NUCs will be able to handle memory dependent tasks better.
Ars Technica has also dug up information about an upcoming NUC aimed at gamers. This particular machine, codenamed “Skull Canyon”, will feature a 45W quadcore Skylake processor and Iris Pro graphics. It will also feature a Thunderbolt 3 port, which allows the machine to connect to an external graphics machine; like the laptop docks that are becoming increasingly common. Nobody is sure if Intel will be building its own external graphics or if it will be relying on third parties. Intel itself is keeping most of the details quiet for now.
Other unknown details are the availability and pricing of the four new NUCs. That being said, they are in production and should be available for purchase soon enough.
[Source: Intel 1, 2, 3, 4; Ars Technica]
