The Intel NUC line of compact desktop computers usually comes in four flavors, but it looks like this year there may be just three. According to a report from FanlessTech, Intel currently has no plans to to offer an Intel NUC 12 Performance model.

But the company will still produce a similarly-sized NUC 12 Pro as well as larger, higher-performance NUC 12 Enthusiast and NUC 12 Extreme editions aimed at folks looking for small gaming desktops or mobile workstation-class computers.

NUC Performance systems are usually around 4.5″ x 4.5″ computers (with 4″ x 4″ motherboards) and 15 to 28-watt processors. FanlessTech reports that not only is Intel considering skipping this year’s Performance model, but that it’s possible that the company will permanently discontinue this line in favor of the other three.

And honestly, that kind of makes sense, because the NUC Pro is typically very similar in terms of size and features. This year the company is rumored to be working on an NUC 12 Pro code-named “Wall Street Canyon” which will be available with up to a 12th-gen Intel Core i7 vPro processor.

Intel has already confirmed plans to launch a new NUC 12 Extreme computer code-named “Dragon Canyon” this year. It features support for up to a 65-watt 12th-gen Intel Alder Lake desktop processor thanks to an LGA1700 socket as well as support for up to 64GB of RAM, up to 3 SSDs, a discrete graphics cards, 10 Gbps Ethernet, and Thunderbolt 4.

And last we’d heard, an NUC 12 Enthusiast “Serpent Canyon” system is also in the works. Larger than an NUC Performance/Extreme model but smaller than the NUC 12 Extreme, this system is expected to have a laptop-class processor and discrete graphics, up to 64GB of RAM and up to three SSDs, Thunderbolt 4 and 3.5 Gbps Ethernet.

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4 replies on “Intel NUC 12 Performance may be canceled (but NUC 12 Extreme, Enthusiast, and Pro are coming)”

  1. One thing that puts me off with the NUC 11 Pro is the lowly 28W power supply and the lack of a 3.5mm audio jack. If Intel really thinks of cancelling the Performance variant, the NUC 12 Pro should better have a higher power supply and a 3.5mm audio jack. I’m holding off the NUC 11 because of the new CPU socket.

    1. Um you’re confusing “thermal design power” with “power supply”. The NUC 11 uses either a 90W (i3) or 120W (i5/i7) power supply.

      The lack of 3.5mm audio jack is likely due to supply chain issues; they actually designed a new SKU for the NUC10 series (with an “N” suffix) because lack of availability of some of the audio hardware was cramping the supply of NUCs themselves to the point where it was evidently more profitable to make an entirely new SKU that skipped the audio subsystem.

  2. Why not just fake-release it, and never actually make them? I mean, we’re all used to it already.

    1. What do you mean by that? I have a supplier in my country that sells all versions of Intel NUC 11 except for Extreme at the moment.

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