JUNE 2022 PCWorld 79model with Intel Iris Pro 580 integrated
graphics in 2016. Still, these were just thicker
versions of the 4×4 form factor. Take a quick
trip to Intel’s NUC website (fave.
co/3wEba2F) and you’ll find the 4×4
models still hog the spotlight.
Things changed in 2018, when Intel and
AMD formed an unholy alliance to integrate
Radeon graphics alongside a handful of Intel
mobile processors. These processors, known
as the Intel 8th-Gen Core G-Series, were
meant to help Intel shore up its weak graphics
performance in thin powerhouses like the Dell
XPS 15 2-in-1 (fave.co/3wJcLVg) and HP
Spectre x360.
The NUC team saw an opportunity. “When
Intel went down the path of partnering with
AMD, it was the first time we went, oh, this is a
super interesting way to build the smallest
possible gaming device,” said Faisal Habib,
enthusiast segment director.around ATX
motherboards
and socketed
CPUs. Laptops,
netbooks, and
subnotebooks
proved it was
possible to
deliver useful
performance in a
much smaller form
factor, and a team
of engineers
began investigating how mobile hardware
could be applied to a desktop design.
Their efforts led to a design the team
internally calls the 4×4. “It’s 4 inches by 4
inches, on the board. That’s where it all
started,” said Kristin Brown, commercial
segment director.
The first 4×4, launched in early 2013, was
born from an internal tug-of-war (fave.
co/3LrxXnR). Intel’s marketing department
wanted it impossibly slim; the engineers
wanted to balance size with performance and
serviceability. The two sides came to battle
packing foam stand-ins of the ideal shape.
Eventually, the possibilities were whittled
down to the 4×4.
For enthusiasts, the classic 4×4 remains
NUC’s most iconic design. It’s put on some
girth over the years as the NUC team added
new models with quicker hardware; Core i5
and i7 models came in 2015, followed by a
The Hades Canyon NUC (front left) marked a departure from prior designs.