The biggest bombshells the leaks drop are the model number of the Core i7 inside the “Rock Canyon” NUC kit and Iris Graphics 6100 support. That integrated GPU is the best currently available with Broadwell.
The graphics component is supported by a Core i7-5557U processor. Featuring two cores, Hyper-Threading, a base clock of 3.1GHz and a Turbo Boost maximum of 3.4GHz, this chip is one of the quickest fifth-generation parts available.
Intel’s Core i7 NUC, like its little brothers, will support various high-resolution monitors including those with 4K playback capabilities. Gaming at that resolution will be out of the question with most titles, but it’s perfect for desktop productivity.
Connectivity is mostly the same as other Broadwell NUCs. There will be a quartet of USB 3.0 ports, dual-channel DDR3 compatibility (with a 16GB capacity maximum), mini HDMI 1.4a and mini DisplayPort 1.2 connector. There’s also support for a 2.5″ hard drive, a M.2 solid state drive, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.0, and Gigabit Ethernet.
Related: Intel’s NUC fully reviewed
There’s just one big difference; size. The Core i7 model will be no wider than its siblings, but it will be thicker, measuring almost twice the i3 and i5 models at about two inches thick. That’ll be a very noticeable difference, but even so, the i7 NUC will be much smaller than most desktops sold today.
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