Intel hasn't made any news or blog announcements about upcoming Apollo Lake NUC mini computers. However, a document has been found on the Intel site providing details about a new NUC motherboard powered by an Apollo Lake processor.
Official product pages now exist for a barebones NUC6CAYH, and a NUC6CAYS model that comes with 2GB of RAM, 32GB of eMMC storage, and Windows 10 software installed. Liliputing reports that, as usual, these NUC boards will measure 4-inches square and a detailed PDF containing the specifications of the motherboard common to the above two products can be found here. The processor at the heart of these products is a soldered-in 10 watt Intel Celeron J3455 quad-core processor with Intel DH Graphics 500.
One of these new NUC systems will support up to 8GB of 1866MHz DDR3L SO-DIMM RAM. Storage can be provided as an embedded eMMC card, 2.5-inch SATA 6.0Gbps drive, or M.2 Module supporting M.2 2230 cards (but that last slot is pre-populated with an Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3168 dual-band 802.11ac and BT4.2 module). You might not need the Wi-Fi as there's a built-in Realtek 8111HN Gigabit Ethernet Controller (10/100/1000Mb/s) for networking.
Graphics output is via HDMI 2.0 connector, or VGA header. Audio can be channelled through the HDMI interface or Realtek ALC283 HD Audio microphone/headphone 3.5 mm jack on the front panel. Additionally there's a digital 5.1/7.1 mini-TOSLINK jack on the back panel and Digital microphone (DMIC) array header for voice assistant support.
On the front of the NUC is the aforementioned 3.5mm audio jack, an LED lit power button, an IR sensor, plus 2x USB 3.0 ports (one active for charging even when the system is off). On the side there is a full-sized SDXC slot. Round the back there are an additional 2x USB 3.0 connectors, accompanied by the Ethernet port, HDMI port, TOSLINK port, and DC input jack. For further expansion options there is an internal USB 2.0 header. There is no USB Type-C port.
Thanks to its latest processor technology the Apollo Lake NUC can support 4K/60fps content when connected to a display via HDMI or 1920 x 1200 pixel 60Hz output over VGA, says Intel.
At Computex this summer an Intel presentation suggested Apollo Lake would bring the following benefits:
- A 30 per cent improvement in CPU performance compared to Cherrytrail / Braswell parts
- A new GPU architecture (Intel Gen9) delivering 30 per cent better performance than Braswell
- Flexible support for RAM, DDR3L, LPDDR3, and LPDDR4 memory are options for manufacturers
- Better battery life, with a claimed 15 per cent longer life compared to Braswell
We don't have word on the pricing or availability of Apollo Lake NUCs at this time.
