System76 Meerkat Linux mini PC gets a spec bump, still ships with a 2-year-old Intel processor
The System76 Meerkat is a mini PC that’s basically a rebranded Intel/Asus NUC that ships with the System76 logo, comes with a number of memory, storage, and wireless configuration options and offers customers a choice of two Linux-based operating systems Ubuntu or Pop!_OS.
Linux PC company System76 has been selling Meerkat mini PCs since 2015, and the company recently updated the lineup with new models featuring 13th-gen Intel Core processors based on “Raptor Lake” architecture. Prices for the new model start at $549.
The starting price is for a model with an Intel Core i3-1315U processor, 16GB of DDR4-3200 RAM, and a 250GB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD. But customers can pay more for up to a Core i7-1360P processor, 64GB of RAM, and up to 16TB of storage.
System76 offers a choice of “short” or “tall” models. The short versions has two M.2 slots: one for PCIe Gen 4 storage and another for PCIe Gen 3. Tall models also have a room for a 2.5 inch SATA SSD or hard drive.
The company also offers an option to “disable WiFi + Bluetooth,” but it’s worth noting that this doesn’t affect the price.
This year’s model is a modest spec bump over last year’s model, which came with 12th-gen Intel Core chips. But it still feels a little behind the times: Intel’s Raptor Lake chips first launched in early 2023 and the chip maker has launched two new generations of processors since then: Meteor Lake and Lunar Lake.
While Intel has highlighted the AI capabilities of those new chips, which are the company’s first to include neural processing units (NPU) for hardware-accelerated AI, the newer chips also bring CPU, graphics, and efficiency improvements that make it unusual to see a brand new mini PC in late 2024 that features a 13th-gen processor instead of one of the newer chips.
The mini PC’s other features include support for up to four displays (thanks to two HDMI 2.1 ports and two Thunderbolt 4 ports, a 2.5 GbE Ethernet port, support for WiFi 6E and Bluetooth, and three USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports and a headphone jack.
Short models measure 117 x 112 x 37mm (4.6″ x 4.4″ x 1.5″), while the tall model is 54mm (2.1″) high.
via LinuxGizmos
