We're generally fans of Intel's NUC ("Next Unit of Computing") mini-PCs, which use Ultrabook parts to create reasonably capable desktop PCs that can fit just about anywhere. When last we heard about new Broadwell-based versions of the boxes, they were due to launch in late 2014, but delays of higher-performance Broadwell parts have apparently pushed them back. New Intel slides from FanlessTech now show seven new NUC boxes launching in the first half of 2015.

The slides also tell us what kind of boxes we can expect, though there are no big surprises. The Broadwell NUC lineup is broadly similar to that of Haswell. There appear to be three boards: one high-end Core i5 model, one middle-end Core i3 model, and one Core i5 model with Intel's vPro technology integrated to make it more appealing to enterprises. All seem to come in two types of enclosures, one with extra room for a 2.5-inch SATA III hard drive and one without. This makes for a total of six Broadwell NUC boxes.

All six boxes will share most of the same ports and features: two display outputs, Ethernet, four USB 3.0 ports, NFC, M.2 slots for SSDs, support for up to 16GB of RAM, and changeable lids (these may just be for customization purposes, though past rumors have suggested that some could be used as wireless charging pads). The vPro models will use two mini DisplayPorts while the standard i5 and i3 boxes will use one mini DisplayPort and one micro HDMI port, and all models appear to come with Intel's 7265 802.11ac and Bluetooth 4.0 adapter soldered on—with current models, you must supply your own mini-PCI Express Wi-Fi card.

Other slides give us more detailed information for the non-vPro boxes, which we think will be the most common models among consumers. The Core i5 models will likely deliver slightly improved CPU performance, better GPU performance (the Broadwell equivalent of Haswell's HD 5000 GPU), and Intel's vPro enterprise management technology. The Core i3 model is likely to stick with the lower-end Broadwell GPU, the analog to Haswell's HD 4400.

The seventh new box outed by these slides is an entry-level Celeron box based on Intel's "Braswell" architecture. We've written very little about Braswell to date, but the short version is that it's the next-generation, 14nm iteration of the Atom. For the last year or so Intel has used Celeron and Pentium names for both scaled-down versions of its flagship Core architecture and higher-end versions of the low-power Atom architecture. Braswell will replace the Bay Trail chips currently shipping in many low-end devices. This low-end box will only come in a version with 2.5-inch drive support, and it won't include an mSATA or M.2 slot for smaller SSDs.

Finally, these leaked slides give us a little bit more information about the timing and power consumption numbers for Broadwell CPUs. Intel is only going to be able to launch the low-power Core M this year because of its difficulties ramping up its 14nm manufacturing process, so it has focused mostly on that chip in its official presentations so far.

Broadwell NUC boxes will launch in the first quarter of 2015, so we should expect to see Broadwell-based Ultrabooks from other OEMs at around the same time—so far, Intel has officially declined to get more specific than "the first half of 2015." Like current Haswell-based U-series chips, the Broadwell versions will have a 15W TDP. Broadwell's efficiency improvements should give Intel quite a bit more headroom to work with, so hopefully we'll see some substantial improvements to CPU and GPU performance that wouldn't have been possible with Haswell.

Finally, it looks like the Braswell chips will begin to hit the market by the middle of 2015. Hopefully this means that the manufacturing problems that have held up Broadwell will have cleared up by then, since Atom-class architectures usually move to new manufacturing processes only after the more expensive, more profitable Core chips have already migrated.

The full stack of slides can be found over at FanlessTech. There are still a few blanks—we don't have any specific model numbers or clock speeds, nor do we know what the physical enclosures for these boxes will look like—but these slides indicate that Intel will continue to take the mini-desktop market seriously. After all, it's one of the few areas of the PC industry that's actively growing.