Intel NUC: 2019 Models and 2020 Plans

This year we have not written anything about the Intel NUC micro-PC - but this does not mean that there is absolutely no news on this front. Over the past months of 2019, several new models were released, the names in the entire line were changed, and even a fundamentally new NUC class was announced, however, someone suspiciously resembling ... in general, this is enough for a review post. Let’s do it.

Let's start with the first topic - the titles. As you probably know, each Intel NUC has its own model index, for example, NUC8i7BEKQA. Each character in it has a certain meaning, but from the point of view of the consumer, together it looks like a cipher. In order not to scare people with cryptography, from the end of last year Intel micro-PCs were divided into lines by scope (although the full names also remained):

• Enthusiast,
• Home,
• Business
• Mainstream-G.

In this qualification, only, as I think, the last class is incomprehensible. It was introduced just a month ago and includes models with discrete graphics Radeon.

In total, 6 Intel NUC models of the Enthusiast, Home and Mainstream-G categories based on the eighth generation Intel Core i3 / i5 / i7 processors were released this year. In addition to the processor, they differ from each other in the maximum number of drives, the presence or absence of the Intel Optane Memory module, pre-installed drives. Details are in the tablets below.
As can be seen from the KDPV (the “thin” model NUC8i7BEKQA is on it), externally, the 2019 models differ little from their predecessors. However, the proposed range of drives increased, there were options with NVMe SSD. Almost all trim levels present Optane Memory.



Well, now about the fundamentally new Intel NUC, which was recently presented at the Computex conference - it is called the NUC Compute Element. Perhaps the name will seem to you somehow familiar. Yes, indeed, this is another reincarnation of the long-suffering Intel Compute Module , formerly Compute Card. The company continues to experiment with compact computing modules, the difference between the current option is simplicity. Intel decided to abandon the full-fledged embedded computer à la "just add a docking station with connectors." This solution was universal, but at the same time expensive and limited in performance. NUC Compute Element is nothing more than a processor module with cooling and memory, which OEM manufacturers will be able to bundle with the functionality that they need.

It is expected that products with NUC Compute Element inside - in particular, notebooks for educational needs - will appear in early 2020.