Acer unveiled a pair of AMD Ryzen 8040 series laptops on Tuesday. Unsurprisingly, given the dedicated neural processing units (NPUs) in their chips, the company is marketing the 2024 Acer Swift Edge 16 and Swift Go 14 as performance beasts. sum of AI. Windows 11 machines support OLED displays, Radeon 780M graphics, and 32GB of RAM.
THE Ryzen 8040 chip series, revealed in December, features a dedicated AI engine that AMD says makes it up to 1.4 times faster than its predecessors in terms of Llama 2 and AI vision model performance. Acer says the Swift Edge 16 and Swift Go 14 will deploy the NPU for AI-related tasks such as PurifiedVoice (removes background noise in calls and recordings) and PurifiedView (blurred backgrounds in images and corrects the position of your eyes during video calls).
Like most new Windows machines (including Acer models launched at CES 2024), laptops have a dedicated Microsoft Copilot button on their keyboards for a quick ChatGPT-style AI queries. (Copilot leverages Microsoft and OpenAI servers via the cloud rather than using the machines' built-in NPU.)
AMD chips in both machines include Microsoft's Pluto security coprocessor. Introduced in 2020 through a partnership with AMD and Intel, it builds security directly into the processor, helping protect your credentials, encryption keys, and personal data from hackers.
Acer Swift Edge 16
Acer markets the Acer Swift Edge 16 as maximizing performance without sacrificing portability. All device variants feature a 16-inch OLED panel with WQXGA (3200 x 2000) resolution and 120Hz frame rate with a response time of less than 0.2ms. It supports 100% DCI-P3 color gamut and VESA DisplayHDR True Black 500 certification for (what should be) accurate, nuanced visuals.
The laptop's Ryzen 7 8840U processor is joined by an AMD Radeon 780M integrated graphics card. The laptop has up to 32GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 2TB of PCIe 4.0 SSD storage. Depending on your configuration, it supports Wi-Fi 7 or Wi-Fi 6E.
The Swift Edge 16 weighs 2.71 pounds and measures 12.95mm tall. It is housed in a magnesium-aluminum alloy chassis and has a 54 Wh battery. It includes two USB-C ports (with USB4 speeds of up to 40 Gbps), two USB-A ports, one HDMI 2.1, and a microSD slot.
Acer Swift Go 14
The smaller of the pair, the Acer Swift Go 14, features an octa-core AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS processor with AMD Radeon 780M graphics. (Cheaper configurations will swap it out for a Ryzen 7 8845HS or Ryzen 5 8645HS.) The machine maxes out at 32GB of LPDDR5X RAM and up to 2TB of PCIe Gen 4 SSD.
The top-end 14-inch variant will have a WQXGA (2880 x 1800) OLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate. Another version will swap it for a 1920 x 1200 IPS panel with touchscreen capabilities. The device's hinge can extend up to 180 degrees and its glass trackpad is 44% larger than that of the previous model. It supports Wi-Fi 6E.
Thanks to its small footprint, Acer markets the Swift Go 14 as the most portable version. However, it's about seven percent heavier than its 16-inch counterpart, at 2.91 pounds. It comes in configurations with a 65 or 50 Wh battery.
Both models feature 1440p QHD webcams, although only the Swift Go 14 is listed as having a privacy shutter. The smaller model is lighter on ports than the 16-inch model, forgoing the larger's pair of USB-A connections. The Swift Go 14 has two USB-C ports (both supporting USB4 speeds), an HDMI 2.1 connector, and a microSD slot.
Pricing and availability
The Swift Edge 16 launches in March in North America, starting at $1,300. Meanwhile, the Swift Go 14 will follow in April, starting at $700. Besides its entry-level models, Acer has not yet detailed the price distribution according to the different configurations.