What just happened? Computex 2023 won't kick off until next week, but that doesn't stop companies like Acer from announcing their latest products ahead of time. The first is an updated and cheaper Swift Edge 16 laptop, which is the company's thin-and-light champion with a magnesium alloy chassis. The second is a new Predator Triton 16 gaming laptop that packs the latest hardware from Intel and Nvidia in a relatively thin design that can pass as a work laptop. Finally, there's a new mesh router for people that are security conscious.
The new Acer Swift Edge 16 is equipped with an OLED screen with a 16:10 aspect ratio, full DCI-P3 color coverage, and 500-nit peak brightness. Acer used a slightly lower resolution panel this time around – 3,200 by 2,000 pixels versus 3840 by 2400 pixels on the old model.
That said, the new screen sports a refresh rate of up to 120 Hz, which is well worth the trade-off in resolution and battery life as it will be easier on your eyes. Acer says you'll still be able to squeeze around eight hours of runtime from the new laptop, meaning it should be able to last a typical workday when unplugged from AC power.
Powering this device is a Rzyen 7 7840U mobile CPU, an eight-core (16-thread) part that AMD says can outperform both Intel's Core i7-1360P as well as the Apple M2 chipset in several workloads. The Ryzen 7840U in the Acer Swift Edge 16 is paired with up to 32 gigabytes of dual-channel LPDDR5 RAM and up to 2TB of PCIe NVMe storage. The RDNA3-based integrated GPU should allow for some light gaming as it's essentially the same as the Ryzen Z1 iGPU found in the Asus ROG Ally handheld console.
It's also worth noting the Swift Edge 16 qualifies as a Microsoft Secured Core PC thanks to the inclusion of a Pluton security chip. The Ryzen CPU powering the new device also features an AI engine that can be used by compatible software to enable added functionality, such as Windows Studio Effects for improving the quality of video calls. Speaking of video calls, this laptop comes with a 1440p webcam, which is a rare sight.
As for when you can get your hands on the Swift Edge 16, Acer says it plans to ship the first units in July. Pricing starts at $1,299.99 for the US market and €1,199.99 for the EU. This is a notable decrease from the $1,499.99 price of the original model.
The second major announcement from Acer is a new Predator Triton 16, which is set to replace the Triton 300 SE 16. Better naming aside, the device comes equipped with an Intel Core i9-13900H CPU and Nvidia's RTX 4070 Laptop GPU. You can also configure it with up to 32 gigabytes of DDR4 RAM and up to two 2-terabyte M.2 SSDs, which should come in handy for modern AAA games which are notoriously demanding on system memory and storage.
Speaking of gaming, this device doesn't look like a typical gaming laptop until you notice the RGB keyboard. Acer says this is an intentional design choice as the slim and minimalistic silver chassis will help the Predator Triton 16 fit in a work environment where distractions need to be kept to a minimum.
That said, this laptop has everything a gamer needs in a portable battlestation – a 16-inch 2560 by 1600 IPS display with a peak brightness of 500 nits and a maximum refresh rate of 240 Hz, G-Sync tech, and powerful internals that are kept in check by a dual-fan cooling solution using Acer's AeroBlade fans. The company even uses liquid metal on the CPU to improve thermal performance, which is a nice touch.
Those of you interested in purchasing the Predator Triton 16 will be able to do so starting in September. Pricing starts at $1,799 for the North American market and €2,299 for the EU. Acer will also be throwing in one month of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate to sweeten up the deal.
Accompanying the two laptop announcements is a new tri-band mesh Wi-Fi router called the Acer Connect Vero W6M. This is supposedly the company's first eco-friendly Wi-Fi 6E router that uses recycled plastics and is optimized for low energy consumption. It's also the first device to comply with new EU cybersecurity standards that are supposed to help rein in the wild west of IoT devices.
https://www.techspot.com/news/98831-acer-unveils-new-swift-edge-16-predator-triton.html
