Intel’s Wall Street Canyon NUC Wants To Take On Apple’s Mac Studio

Intel is planning to launch a brand new NUC device that will most likely target the latest Apple Mac Studio, according to leaked information. NUC stands for “Next Unit of Computing” and, according to Intel, these devices deliver desktop-level performance in an ultra-small form factor. Essentially, Intel NUC devices function like normal desktop PCs with some user-upgradable options for RAM and storage.

Mini PCs are pretty popular among tech enthusiasts and already a ton of mini-ITX pre-builds are available in the market. What makes Intel NUCs stand out is the fact that they feature a custom-designed motherboard with all the most important parts soldered on. Last year’s ‘Phantom Canyon’ Intel NUC featured an Intel 11th Gen Core i7-1165G7 quad-core CPU, 8GB DDR4 RAM, 128GB NVMe M.2 SSD, and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 Max-P GPU. The best part is that Intel packs all these components in a chassis that’s as big as a desktop-grade RTX 2060 graphics card. 

Unlike most Apple devices, Intel NUC machines can be upgraded by the user. The Phantom Canyon has two M.2 slots for SSDs and SODIMM slots for adding more RAM. Due to features like this, Intel NUC devices remain in high demand, and it now looks like the next Intel NUC device is on the horizon. According to a recent Chiphell post by user Someone’s Vest, the upcoming Intel NUC, codenamed “Wall Street Canyon”, will continue to be a small and powerful PC, and could take the fight to Apple’s recently launched Mac Studio. 

Intel’s Wall Street Canyon NUC Specifications Leaked

According to the leaked information, the device’s official name is likely to be Intel NUC Studio 12 Pro. Intel is apparently following the popular NUC 4X4 design for the motherboard and will feature the option to choose between five Alder Lake-P CPUs. These are the Core i7-1270P with vPro, Core i7-1260P without vPro, Core i5-1250P, Core i5-1240P, and Core i3-1220P. Additionally, and similar to last year’s model, the upcoming NUC will also feature SODIMM and M.2 slots for upgrading memory and storage, respectively. The leaker also posted a number of benchmarks from the engineering sample as well.

Despite not being a production sample, the Intel Core i7-1260P ES chip seemed to perform pretty well in the benchmarks. The Cinebench R20 score for the Core i7-1260P was around 5000, which is pretty high. Other benchmarks included 3D Mark’s Fire Strike and Time Spy, in which the Intel Xe graphics chip scored 4660 and 1872, respectively. Intel appears to have improved fan noise levels, likely thanks to an upgraded cooling system. The upcoming Intel NUC mini-PC also has a good selection of I/O ports available, including multiple USB Type-A, Thunderbolt 4, HDMI, Ethernet, DisplayPort, and more. The leak also claimed that Intel’s Xe graphics chip can run Shadow of the Tomb Raider at 28FPS at the lowest graphical preset in Full HD resolution.

In terms of outright performance, Apple’s Mac Studio remains ahead of the leaked Intel NUC Studio 12 Pro. As mentioned, however, an area where NUCs can surpass Mac Studio is in terms of accessibility, thanks to the options for user upgradability. Adding 2TB SSD storage to a Mac Studio costs $600 extra over its base price. The same upgrade on an Intel NUC would cost much less. Speaking of cost, no word is available yet on the Wall Street Canyon NUC pricing, but Intel could likely reveal those details in the coming months.

Source: Chiphell