Some page content & researching collaboratively taken from io55.net's Wii U page[1] with permission.
When it comes to the retail SKUs, the only two which exist are the two initial launch models, which were the WUP-001 and WUP-101. These two models were exclusively differentiated by their storage size and color. In terms of other hardware, they were completely identical. They both also shared most of the motherboard revisions overtime, aside from WUP-50.
Retail Models
WUP-001 - 8 GB Model
Available only in white, launching as the "Basic Set" or "Basic Pack". It was one of the two versions available at launch. At the time, this came with less additional peripherals, whist having only 8 GB of internal storage. Otherwise, it is identical to the Deluxe.
WUP-101 - 32 GB Model
This model initially only came in black. It was known as the "Deluxe Set" in North America, and the "Premium Pack" in the rest of the world. This version of the console also came with a gamepad dock, gamepad stand, and two stands to orient the console vertically in the box. About seven months after the console's initial release, an official white Premium Pack was released exclusively in Japan. This was the only way to purchase a brand new 32 GB white console. However, in North America, Nintendo sold refurbished white models with the storage upgraded to 32 GB, along with the model code WUP-101. Models that came with eMMC manufactured by SK Hynix (these only potentially appear in consoles from 2012 and 2013) are more prone to failure.
Motherboard Revisions
Unlike many other consoles, the Wii U received many minor revisions not publicly announced by Nintendo.
- WUP-01
- Launch motherboard.
- WUP-10
- A major revision, it uses the efficient B1X SoC found also in the WUP-50
- Appears to be Japan-only.
- Only seven are currently known to exist.[2]
- WUP-30
- Minor revision of WUP-01.
- WUP-40
- Minor revision of WUP-30.
- WUP-50
- Last revision, board layout similar to the WUP-10.
- Only board to have the DRH-WUP-1.
- This board was never released with 8 GB storage. It is therefore only seen on WUP-101 consoles.