Andrew Cunningham
Since 2012, Intel has designed and bought its personal lineup of mini PCs. The Next Unit of Computing collection (NUC—rhymes with yuck—was at all times a bizarre title) was at all times most carefully related to Mac mini-like desktops, however over time, it grew to embody compact workstations and gaming methods in addition to mini servers with a number of Ethernet ports.
But Intel is seemingly falling by the wayside on the NUC, in accordance to an announcement given to The Verge earlier at the moment.
Intel spokesperson Mark Walton stated that Intel had “determined to cease direct funding within the Next Unit of Compute (NUC) Business and pivot our technique to allow our ecosystem companions to proceed NUC innovation and development.” This assertion leaves some wiggle room—Intel may nonetheless work with companions to convey NUCs or NUC-like merchandise to market—nevertheless it looks as if the times of Intel designing its personal desktop computer systems are over.
Walton additionally stated that Intel deliberate to proceed “ongoing help for NUC merchandise presently out there,” so it seems like homeowners of present NUC methods ought to nonetheless be in a position to get driver and BIOS updates and guarantee help for the foreseeable future.
The first NUC, primarily based on a third-generation Intel Core chip utilizing the Ivy Bridge structure, got here out as Intel was leaning laborious into its then-new “ultrabook” initiative. A response to Apple’s MacGuide Air, Intel gave PC corporations a part of a $300 million fund to develop new laptops that mixed low-voltage (however comparatively high-performance) processors, quick solid-state storage, and thin-and-light designs not weighed down by legacy components like built-in DVD drives. Twelve years later, you continue to see the ultrabook designation tossed round a bit, however MacGuide Air-style laptops have so totally taken over the moveable PC market that an “ultrabook” and a “regular laptop computer” are more or much less indistinguishable typically.
The NUC was an effort to convey the velocity, measurement, and low energy utilization of an ultrabook into the desktop realm, changing boxy, ugly workplace desktops with one thing you would maintain within the palm of your hand. NUC-style mini PCs did not take over the desktop market in the identical method that ultrabooks got here to dominate the laptop computer market, however the NUC continues to be survived by a big ecosystem of equally tiny PCs, lots of that are finally cheaper and simpler to purchase than most NUCs had been. Models embody however aren’t restricted to Dell’s Optiplex Micro, Lenovo’s ThinkCentre Tiny, HP’s ProDesk and EliteDesk Mini methods, Gigabyte’s Brix methods, various fashions from PC motherboard makers like Asus and ASRock, and Apple’s Mac mini and Mac Studio.
The finish of the NUC is due a minimum of partially to Intel’s current monetary struggles—the corporate has had a couple of tough quarters because the finish of the pandemic-era PC growth, shedding billions of {dollars} as its shopper, workstation, and server companies all falter. The firm has already instituted layoffs and lower government pay in response, and it introduced plans to promote its pre-built server enterprise in April.
Although Intel continues to be investing in a couple of product strains that are not processors—the corporate has stated it is nonetheless dedicated to its nascent GPU enterprise—CEO Pat Gelsinger is betting the corporate’s future on his “IDM 2.0” technique, through which Intel gives its chip manufacturing amenities to third-party chip designers. This will put Intel in competitors with the likes of Taiwan Semiconductor (TSMC), Samsung, and GlobalFoundries.