Upcoming Intel NUC Mini PCs Get Wireless Charging and M.2 SSDs

The roadmap for Intel NUC mini PCs with the upcoming Broadwell processors has appeared online. Intel comes with mainstream and business versions. Both NUCs will receive support for NFC and M.2 SSDs; the consumer PCs can also charge other devices wirelessly.

Intel will release the Rock Canyon-NUC for the mainstream and the Maple Canyon for the business market in the fourth quarter of this year, according to a roadmap published by Fanless Tech. The mainstream NUC will be equipped with Core i3s and i5s of the Broadwell generation. Broadwell processors are produced at 14nm, compared to 22nm for the current Haswell chips, and above all have to be more economical than the current generation.

The upcoming small desktops will have mini HDMI and mini displayport, can display 4k content and control three screens. There is also room for regular 2.5″ storage media, but SSDs with M.2 form factor can also be connected. There is also support for WiFi, Bluetooth and infrared for remote controls. The most striking feature is that the top of the housing is removable. : There will be ‘lids’ with built-in nfc support and the possibility to wirelessly charge other devices such as smartphones.By the way, many NUCs are attached to the monitor via a vesa bracket, where this functionality seems very useful.

The business NUC gets support for Intel’s vPro and a RPM. This mini desktop features two mini display ports and the processor supports Turbo mode. The lid is also replaceable for a version with NFC support, but wireless charging is not an option.

It is not yet known what the NUCs will look like and the prices are not yet known. Fanless Tech does show a slide with a thin NUC without a fan and with an Atom, but it seems to be mainly designed for thin clients and point-of-sale systems.