Asus ExpertCenter PN65 mini PC on the way with 28-watt Intel Meteor Lake processor

Intel hasn’t officially launched its 14th-gen “Meteor Lake” processor lineup yet, but we’re already starting to see computers powered by the next-gen chips.

MSI showed off a laptop with a Meteor Lake processor at Computex this week. And Asus included a Meteor Lake Mini PC in a recent product brochure.

The upcoming Asus ExpertCenter PN65 mini PC is a 130 x 120 x 58mm (5.1″ x 4.7″ x 2.3″) computer that will be available with a 28-watt, 14th-gen Intel Core processor.

On the outside the computer looks pretty much identical to the ExpertCenter PN64-E1 that Asus introduced earlier this year. But under the hood the company has made a few changes. The new model will support DDR5-5600 memory (up from DDR5-4800). And it’ll feature next-gen Intel processors.

While we’ll probably have to wait a little while for specific processor names and feature sets, it seems likely that the processors will be a part of the Intel Core P-series line of chips which are designed for typically designed for thin and light laptops or compact desktop computers like the PN65.

13th-gen Intel Core P-series chips feature to 14 cores and 20 threads (with 6 Performance cores and 8 Efficiency Cores) and Intel Iris Xe integrated graphics. It’s likely that 14th-gen chips will continue this trend, but we also know that they’ll also have a new vision processing unit (VPU) for hardware-accelerated computer vision and other AI tasks.

According to the product brochure, the Asus ExpertCenter PN65 will have two SODIMM slots with support for up to 64GB of total memory (32GB per slot), and support for up to three storage devices thanks to two M.2 2280 slots for PCIe Gen 4 storage and one 2.5 inch drive bay with support for a 7nm hard drive or SSD.

Ports include:

• 1 x 2.5 GbE Ethernet
• 2 x HDMI
• 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C
• 3 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A
• 1 x 3.5mm audio
• 1 x DC power input

At least one of the USB-C ports supports DisplayPort 1.4 Alt mode, and there’s also a configurable port section that allows customers to choose an additional HDMI, DisplayPort, VGA, or Ethernet port.

Interestingly there’s no mention of any Thunderbolt 4 ports, even though the PN64-E1 has one. I wouldn’t be surprised if one or more of those USB-C ports turn out to be Thunderbolt ports, but for now I’m taking the spec sheet at face value.

Asus will also offer two wireless card options: Intel AX201 or AX210. The former supports WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2, while the latter supports WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2.

Pricing and availability details haven’t been announced yet, but since Intel isn’t expected to launch its Meteor Lake processors until the second half of the year, we’ll probably have to wait at least a little while to find out those details.

via @momomo_us