If this is true, this will be the first NUC to feature an AMD chip, and it will come soon after Asus launches a family of five NUCs powered by an Intel processor. It won’t be its first device to use a Ryzen AI Max+ (Strix Halo) CPU, though, as it’s rumored to power the upcoming ROG Flow Z13 laptop (also listed in the customs document).

This chip cojoins existing AMD CPU and GPU architectures, along with a high speed memory interface, in an unprecedented way, compared to traditional X86 chip designs.

The possibility of an AMD-powered NUC has gained attention following a customs filing discovered by ComputerBase. The entry references a “Personal Computer mini-PC (NUC14LNS) Asus AMD Ryzen AI Max-395/W 8060S,

AMD has revealed new gaming benchmarks for the Ryzen AI Max "Strix Halo" APU via Wccftech, implying the integrated Radeon 8060S GPU is more powerful than the Nvidia RTX 4070 discrete mobile GPU.

AMD has just shared gaming benchmark results for its Ryzen AI Max+ 395 "Strix Halo" chip (via Wccftech ). Based on the company’s internal testing, its upcoming APU outclasses Nvidia’s RTX 4070 laptop GPU in gaming performance. If accurate, the best gaming laptops with Nvidia GPUs could face serious competition from Team Red.

Since taking over the NUC line of mini PCs from Intel in 2023, Asus has continued to offer small desktops with Intel and AMD processor options. But so far the company has only used the NUC brand for models with Intel processors, while marketing AMD-powered systems as ExpertCenter systems.

AMD might lose out to Nvidia in the desktop GPU department, but it's set to put up a fight within the laptop GPU region.