What you need to know
- Intel has unveiled its NUC 12 Extreme and NUC 12 Extreme Compute Element.
- Intel's goal with its next unit of computing (NUC) is to provide consumers with respectable hardware in the tiniest form factor possible.
- The Intel NUC 12 Extreme will set you back a minimum of $1,150 when it arrives in Q2 2022.
Your first in-depth look at Intel's new, extraordinarily small mini PC is here. The NUC 12 Extreme is basically the size of a few graphics cards smushed together (it's 14 x 4.72 x 7.44 inches "big"), making it one of the tiniest desktop PC offerings on the market. That size comes with a price: The Core i7 variant will go for $1,150 and the Core i9 version will sell at $1,450 when the NUC formally launches in Q2 2022.
By default, the NUC will rock Intel UHD Graphics 770 and support a maximum of 64GB of RAM. It will also feature a wide variety of ports, including multiple Thunderbolt 4 slots. It will be compatible with Windows 10 as well as "various Linux distros," if you're tired of Windows and want to give Linux a try. After all, it is the year of Linux.
Intel emphasizes that one of the NUC 12 Extreme's major selling points is its modularity. In other words, if you're not happy with the specs you get out of the box, you can spruce them up a bit while retaining a desktop with a tiny form factor the likes of which even the best mini ITX PC cases will do a double-take at.
You can read up on the full tech specs over at Intel's announcement post. Just remember the power limitations of a machine as small as the NUC 12 Extreme and don't expect it to rival the best desktop PCs in performance.
