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Currently, the Mac mini is sold with Apple silicon keeping the same form factor it has used since 2010. In spring 2022, Apple introduced the Mac Studio, which has the same footprint as the mini but increases its height to make room for more robust fan and additional cooling. While still technically fitting into the mini PC category, it’s intended for heavy workloads that rely on graphics or raw processing power, such as video editing.
The Advantages of Intel NUCs — Why They’re Worth It
In the early 2010s, Intel sought to leave the traditional PC motherboard space, which was effectively supported by an array of third-party manufacturers, while continuing to find a way to utilize the internal resources that supported the sector.
The solution Intel implemented was an experimental project called the NUC, says Deatherage, who was Intel’s director of product marketing at the time.
“A few of us were sitting around a table one day and said, ‘What if we made the smallest motherboard we possibly could with our engineering and all that good stuff that could scale from an Atom processor to a Core i7?'” he recalls. . “That was kind of the genesis of this 4-by-4 board, as we called it at the time.”
The 4-inch board, eventually given an enclosure and a name, has evolved into one of the most interesting segments of desktop computing. In its earliest iteration, a legacy-free ethos drove the product’s development so aggressively that the initial version of the NUC didn’t come with an Ethernet port at all.
“A lot of people don’t even use their LAN jack, and I think we were right there, but that ended up making the product not very successful,” Deatherage says, noting that after Intel added one, the concept started to find success. in the market.
EXPLORE: Find out how to prepare your organization’s network to handle AI applications.
Deatherage’s role in developing the NUC helped lead to his current position at Simply NUC. He says Simply NUC has found customer bases in a range of areas beyond the desktop paradigm, particularly around digital signage, as equipment for industrial machinery, as a marketable management tool and even as a way to operate virtual reality equipment.
While the NUC, like other minicomputers, has consumer and enthusiast use cases, Deatherage says 90 percent of Simply NUC sales are in the B2B space.
AMD-based options
Apple and Intel aren’t the only players in the minicomputer space. AMD-based products built around the company’s Ryzen chips, such as machines sold by ASUS and MSI, have some solid advantages in this form, especially thanks to their powerful integrated graphics. This makes them effective options when graphics capabilities are needed but an external GPU may not be an option, such as in artificial intelligence or virtual reality settings.
Simply NUC also sells an AMD model in a universal case style that is designed for long-life management — as much as seven years of support in some cases — which Deatherage says many enterprise customers find attractive.
“That’s the customer who’s not so much interested in the latest technology but more interested in a stable environment over the long term,” he says.
READ MORE: Find out how AMD’s latest processors improve performance, productivity and security.
How Have Intel NUCs and Other Mini PCs Evolved Over Time?
While the Intel NUC couldn’t get rid of the Ethernet jack, it proved easily adaptable to the needs of its customer base, with a variety of applications. It is possible, for example, to have a serial port added to a NUC so that the device can plug into older industrial equipment, or to get a fanless version for use in dusty or humid environments.
Deatherage explains that this approach has evolved to accommodate the many different markets where NUCs are used.
The Mac mini, meanwhile, is now a server room standby for many companies and is even used in the cloud to scale Mac instances to compile iOS apps and other functions. Amazon Web Services, for example, offers cloud access to Mac provisioning. While minicomputers are not server grade, some organizations have found them to be effective options on the rack as an alternative to servers.
Digital signage is a key use case across industry sectors, says Deatherage, because many NUCs can drive multiple displays without additional hardware. In fact, it might even make sense to use multiple NUCs across multiple displays in case of a malfunction or outage.
The mini PC, in its many forms, is often quite versatile and by no means limited to the desktop – although if you need a decent office computer, it’s suitable for that too. If you are looking for the right implementation strategy, CDW AmplifiedTM Services can help you figure out the right place to fit them, whether at the edge or in the server room.
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