Acer Swift laptops debut AMD Ryzen 8000 CPUs, AI apps

Acer is refreshing its Swift Edge 16 and Swift Go 14 laptops, showcasing one of the first instances of AMD’s latest Ryzen 8000 mobile family of processors as well as a new AI app which Acer is preloading on the PCs.

Acer will shift its updated Swift Edge 16 beginning in March, for $1,299 and up. Acer’s Swift Go 14 with the latest Ryzen chips inside will cost $699 and up, and will ship in April.

Acer’s Swift Edge 16 shipped last year with the older Ryzen 7840U inside. PCWorld’s Swift Edge 16 (2023) review assigned it four out of five stars, praising its inky black display, strong performance, and light weight, but frowning at its plasticky construction and keyboard. PCWorld’s review of the Acer 2023 Swift Go gave it a half star less, again praising its display and performance but criticizing its construction.

AMD announced its Ryzen 8000 family last December, with few changes from the prior generation. The new chips do include a more powerful “Hawk Point” AI NPU, however, which increases the NPU’s power by 6 trillion operations per second (TOPS) to 16 TOPS in the NPU, and 39 TOPS across the remainder of the chips. AMD refers to the Ryzen 8000 family as the Ryzen 8040 series processors.

Since these are AMD Ryzen-based laptops — and Intel refuses to certify non-Intel platforms for Thunderbolt — you’ll find functionally equivalent USB4 ports instead. AMD’s new Ryzen 8000 family will take on Intel’s Meteor Lake (Core Ultra) and its 14th-gen Core HX platform.

Acer

Acer’s Swift Edge 16 specifications for its 2024 model reflect a welcome increase to up to 32GB of RAM and up to 2TB of SSD storage, in addition to the spectacular 3,200×2,000, 120Hz OLED display carried over from the prior generation. Processor options include the Ryzen 7 8840U and the Ryzen 5 8640U. The laptop carries the same airy 2.71-pound weight as its predecessor, and the same dimensions as well.

What’s new for the Swift Edge 16? The addition of a Pluton security processor, which Microsoft originally co-developed with AMD to secure the Xbox.

Acer

The Swift Go 14, on the contrary, ships with three upgrades: the Pluton coprocessor, the upgraded Ryzen 8000 processors, and a 44 percent larger touchpad than the previous iteration. It now measures 4.92 inches by 3.02 inches.

The Swift Go 14 includes a few different screen options, from a 14-inch OLED (2880×1800) to two IPS panels, at either 2240 x1400 or 1920×1200 apiece. Three processor options are included: the Ryzen 9 8945HS, the Ryzen 7 8845, or the Ryzen 5 8645HS.

Both the Swift Go and the Swift Edge include a better-than-usual 1440p webcam, though only the Swift Go includes a privacy shutter.

The new laptops include the AcerSense key, as before. However, Acer executives told us that they’d be adding AI-specific features over the course of 2024. With these new laptops, Acer is showing off LiveArt, an app to use AI to tweak existing photos by removing their background and other features. Acer showed off LiveArt, as well as some of its plans for generative AI, in the video below.

Acer Swift Go 14 (2024) basic features:

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS/Ryzen 7 8845HS/Ryzen 5 8645HS
• Memory: up to 32GB LPDDR5X
• Graphics/GPU: Radeon 780M/760M
• Display: 14-inch OLED (2880×1800, 90Hz) / 14-inch IPS (2240×1400, 90Hz) / 14-inch IPS (1920×1200, 90Hz)
• Storage: Up to 2 TB Gen 4 NVMe SSD
• Webcam: 1440p w/shutter
• Connectivity:  2x Thunderbolt 4/USB-C, 2x USB-A, MicroSD card reader, 3.5mm combo audio jack
• Networking: WiFi 6E, Bluetooth
• Biometrics: None
• Battery capacity: 65 watt-hours
• Dimensions: 12.32 x 8.6 x 0.59in
• Weight: 2.91 pounds
• MSRP: $699 and up

Acer Swift Edge 16 (2024) basic features:

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 8840HS/Ryzen 7 8640U
• Memory: up to 32GB LPDDR5X
• Graphics/GPU: Radeon 780M/760M
• Display: 16-inch OLED (3200×2000, 120Hz)
• Storage: Up to 2 TB Gen 4 NVMe SSD
• Webcam: 1440p w/shutter
• Connectivity:  2x Thunderbolt 4/USB-C, 2x USB-A, MicroSD card reader, 3.5mm combo audio jack
• Networking: WiFi 6E, Bluetooth
• Biometrics: None
• Battery capacity: 65 watt-hours
• Dimensions: 14.08 x 9.68 x .0.51in
• Weight: 2.71 pounds
• MSRP: $1,299 and up