I patiently hope that Apple turns the Mac mini into a gaming console.

Asus plans to launch the ROG NUC 2025 this year, which will be powered by Nvidia's RTX 5080 laptop GPU. This model will feature 16GB of GDDR7 VRAM. Its price is expected to be high compared to the current ROG NUC 970.

Nvidia's RTX 5000 GPU series was officially unveiled at CES 2025. Although the release date for the RTX 5080 for laptops has not yet been confirmed, Asus has revealed that one of its upcoming gaming mini-PCs will incorporate this new hardware. According to information from Edge Up Asus, the ROG NUC 2025 will use the RTX 5080 GPU alongside an Intel Core Ultra 9 (Series 2) ARL-HX processor, offering 24 cores and 24 threads. This setup is designed to be a high-end gaming mini-PC, surpassing competitors like Apple's Mac mini M4 in performance, although likely at a much higher price.

The current ROG NUC model is equipped with GPUs from the RTX 4000 series, and this year's model will elevate performance to a new level. Benchmarks for the desktop RTX 5080 and 5090 GPUs are expected by the end of the month, generating considerable anticipation.

In terms of pricing, the new ROG NUC is expected to be quite expensive, with configurations potentially reaching up to the RTX 5080 and 64GB of DDR5 RAM. To put this in context, the ROG NUC 970 starts at a price of $1,399 / £1,629, so it is reasonable to assume that this year's model will be priced similarly, or even higher.

Compared to the Mac mini M4, the ROG NUC 2025 is expected to offer better performance, although the Mac mini will be significantly more affordable, starting at $599 / £599 / AU$999. The M4 MacBook Pro could be a fairer comparison, especially the version equipped with the M4 Pro chip, which features a 14-core CPU and a 20-core GPU, along with 24GB of unified memory. However, the ROG NUC will run Windows 11, while the MacBook Pro uses macOS, a system that still needs to advance in gaming optimizations.

The ROG NUC will also benefit from Nvidia's new generation DLSS 4 Multi-Frame Generation, which promises to dramatically improve performance in various games in addition to the raw GPU performance. Thus, while it will be an expensive mini-PC, it will likely be more suitable for gaming compared to the Mac mini M4 and the MacBook Pro.

However, while the ROG NUC 2025 looks promising, it may not be the best purchase option, as its price could be significantly higher compared to more affordable standard-sized gaming PCs that offer competent performance.