The NUC 12 Pro proves that times have changed. Intel used to bring the best mini-Windows PCs to the world. Of course, Apple has long had the Mac Mini line to keep things moving, but Intel helped popularize the concept of Windows (and Linux) machines.

Don't get me wrong, the NUC 12 Pro is an excellent machine with enough power for most office and home use. The 12th generation Intel CPU exceeded my expectations and I had a lot of fun using this mini-PC.

However, as good as the NUC 12 Pro is, I cannot simply recommend it because there are more affordable alternatives. As this NUC 12 Pro review shows, Intel has lost the lead, at least when it comes to mini-PCs that are best suited for non-gaming applications.

The NUC 12 Pro has three CPU options: i3-1220P, i5-1240P, and i7-1260P. Some are barebone types with no storage or RAM, while others come with 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB of RAM. Storage options range from 512GB to 1TB and 2TB.

The unit I received has an i7-1260P, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage for $969 on Amazon (opens in new tab).

As for the competition, the NUC 12 Pro has a steep hill to climb. The new Mac Mini M2 is a $699 monster and easily beats Intel, as discussed below; for Windows machines, I have not tested any other 12th generation units, but the Geekom Mini IT11 has great performance at this price.

If I had to describe the NUC 12 Pro in one word, it would be spartan. A simple black cube, this mini-PC has no branding or special decorations. It is a professional looking machine that does not aim to attract attention. Only the power button on the front is illuminated.

Looking at the NUC 12 Pro from the front, nothing stands out: two vents line up on either side, where the NUC draws most of its heat. The back is quite busy with numerous ports. The bottom has four rubber feet to support it from a desk. It can also be VESA mounted to a monitor.

One of my favorite features is the matte black top. Glossy lids attract fingerprints and dust, while the NUC 12 Pro goes for a more understated look.

The NUC 12 Pro has a stack of ports, including two Thunderbolt 4 jacks. On the front are dual USB-A 3.2 ports and a combo audio jack. On the back are two Thunderbolt 4, dual HDMI, 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet, another USB-A 3.2, and USB-A 2.0.

Intel offers the NUC 12 Pro, a bare-bones type that provides its own storage and RAM. This PC supports up to 64GB of SODIMM DDR4 memory and a 2TB Gen 4 NVMe SSD. Intel also mentions a version that supports 2.5-inch drives.

Thus, you can save some money by purchasing a barebone model and will likely get storage and RAM for less than what Intel offers for upgrades. In this respect, the NUC 12 Pro is hardly unique, but it is nice to see Intel offering the option to tailor RAM and storage to your own needs.

Intel's 12th generation processors have really knocked it out of the park in terms of performance, and the NUC 12 Pro reaps all the benefits. I received the i7-1260P, the most powerful option available today. [It is a 12-core, 16-thread chip with eight efficiency cores and four performance cores. This allows the CPU to use resources more efficiently, bringing up the performance cores only when the system needs them.

The NUC 12 Pro has impressive performance, but not up to the level of the Mac Mini M2. For reference, the Mac Mini M2 is priced at $599, considerably less than the $969 configuration I have here.

For example, in Geekbench 5, the Mac Mini has a significant lead in multi-core performance. Game performance in Civilization VI has also improved significantly, with frame rates doubling at 1080p and even better at 4K. macOS's rapid improvement in gaming performance was demonstrated by my colleague Roland Moore-Colyer in his MacBook Air M 2's gaming processing.

On Windows PCs, the NUC 12 Pro is doing quite well, but with Ryzen 6000 machines already on the market and Ryzen 7000 mini-PCs already starting to appear, the NUC 12 Pro does not offer a good price/performance ratio.

The NUC 12 Pro comes with Windows 11 Pro, which is very standard. There is the typical Windows 11 bloatware, but most of the Microsoft garbage can be easily removed with a script. I did so on one of my machines and have no regrets.

Windows 11, with its 12th generation power, runs fast on the NUC 12 Pro. But as good as the performance is on the Microsoft side, the Linux side is a completely different story. We tried several distributions, all of which gave us a great experience on this mini-PC.

Whether it's Windows or Linux, the NUC 12 Pro has the performance to match a great user experience. It would also make a great little server if you want to dabble in home-lab stuff; it would be a shame to turn it into an HTPC, especially with so little gaming potential.

It's hard to find anything really bad to say about the NUC 12 Pro other than the value proposition: unlike competitors like Geekom and Beelink, the NUC 12 Pro is not cheap; even Apple's base model Mac Mini (not to mention the Mac Mini M2 Pro not to mention the Mac Mini M2 Pro) is a better bargain.

Despite its excellence as a mini-PC, we cannot recommend the NUC 12 Pro given the competition. In a vacuum, this would be an easy recommendation, but not when there are many better options for the same or less money.