ASUS ROG NUC 2026: same compact box, more cores inside
ASUS is preparing a significant internal upgrade to its ROG NUC gaming mini PC, and early teasers suggest it won't change the outside at all. Chinese promotional materials from May point directly at a new model, with VideoCardz confirming the expected shift to Intel's Arrow Lake Refresh platform. The update matters because it puts desktop-class performance into a box small enough to sit behind a monitor — at a price that now competes with high-end gaming laptops.
The hardware
The 2026 ROG NUC is expected to arrive with Intel's Core Ultra 200HX Plus chips: specifically the Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus with 24 cores and the Core Ultra 7 270HX Plus with 20 cores. According to Tom's Hardware, Arrow Lake Refresh delivers up to 8% better gaming performance over the previous generation, with a boosted max clock of 5.5 GHz on the flagship chip. On the graphics side, ASUS is expected to pair these processors with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Laptop GPU — keeping the ROG NUC among the most powerful mini PCs on the market.
The design stays the same, which means ASUS is betting the existing chassis and cooling setup can handle the new silicon. That continuity is a practical win: buyers keep the same compact footprint and the same port selection that made the current model popular.
The price and availability
No pricing has been confirmed for the 2026 model. For context, the current 2025 ROG NUC sells for £2,129 to £2,599 in the UK — the RTX 5080 variant is listed at £2,599 on retailers including Scan UK and Amazon UK. In the US and EU, NotebookCheck confirmed the 2025 model landed at €2,156–€3,415 after a delayed rollout following the initial US launch. Expect a similar premium for the 2026 refresh.
The official reveal is most likely set for Computex 2026, running June 2–5 in Taipei. No UK or US availability window has been announced yet. Competitors like the Thunderobot MIX G2 and Minisforum alternatives are gaining traction with similar specs at lower prices, so ASUS will need to defend that premium clearly when it takes the stage.
