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Acer unveils new Snapdragon convertible notebooks; 'rival' to MacBook Neo

Article (news)

Arthur Fuentes

ABS-CBN News

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1780352064865acer swift spin 14 ai.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>Acer Swift Spin 14 AI. Arthur Fuentes, ABS-CBN News</div>TAIPEI — Acer is making a major play for the 2-in-1 laptop market as it unveiled new Snapdragon-powered notebooks in Taipei.It also announced what could be the brand’s answer to one of the most sought-after budget laptops right now. At Computex, the Taiwanese tech giant announced its latest leap into Qualcomm’s next-generation silicon with the premium Swift Spin 14 AI convertible laptop. Under the hood, the Swift Spin 14 AI packs Qualcomm&#x27;s latest Snapdragon X2 Elite or X2 Plus processors. Laptops that transform into tablets aren’t new, but the introduction of power-efficient Snapdragon chips into a flexible, 2-in-1 form factor, pushes these machines into relatively new territory.It features a 360-degree convertible design, which means the laptop’s display can be folded all the way. As it is a touchscreen, it doubles as a huge 14-inch Windows tablet.  The hardware itself looks exceptionally versatile. The WUXGA (1920×1200 display, 16:10 aspect ratio) touch display has a 120 Hz refresh rate and ships with a Wacom-powered stylus, which tucks away neatly into a built-in charging garage. It may remind you of the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, but with a much bigger screen. Despite its aluminum, military-grade durable chassis, it weighs a portable 2.95 pounds (1.34 kgs) and measures just 0.63 inches thin.As a laptop, the Swift Spin 14 AI is a thin-and-light device that can easily be carried around by students and professionals on the go. Folded up, it becomes a huge 14-inch tablet. <div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1780352342807Acer Swift Spin 14 AI Qualcomm Lifestyle_1.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>Acer Swift Spin 14 AI converts from a laptop to a tablet. Handout</div>While I personally see no significant benefit from adding a touchscreen to standard laptops, it’s an entirely different case for notebooks that can fold into tablets. Here, the touchscreen becomes truly useful. The addition of a stylus, makes it even more versatile, as you can use it for notetaking, editing, and signing documents.The stylus is good for 100 minutes of use with just a quick 30-second charge, Acer said. Is the Swift Spin 14 AI any good for drawing or sketching? Wacom is legendary among digital illustrators for the quality of its stylus devices, but we’ll have to get a review unit to see for ourselves.And this is no ordinary thin-and-light laptop either. The Swift Spin 14 AI can support up to three external 4K monitors, and can be configured with up to 32 GB of LPDDR5X memory and up to 1 TB of SSD storage.Acer is leaning heavily into the AI angle here, touting a massive 80 TOPS of NPU performance geared toward handling fast, tightly integrated multi-modal AI tasks and agentic workloads directly on-device.As Snapdragon chips are known for their power efficiency, Acer claims users will see massive battery gains, lasting up to 23 hours during video playback or 16.5 hours of web browsing on a single charge. It also fully checks the box for Windows 11 Copilot+ PC status, bringing Microsoft&#x27;s context-aware &quot;Click-to-Do&quot; feature and local AI tools into the mix.<div>MACBOOK NEO COMPETITOR?</div>In what looks like a response to MacBook Neo, Acer also announced a new laptop powered by the Snapdragon C processor, which Qualcomm said is meant for more affordable notebooks. While the Swift targets power users, the Aspire Go 15 is all about accessibility. Acer said this laptop is meant to be responsive, run cool and quiet without a fan, and have multi-day battery life while staying at entry-level price points. Like the MacBook Neo, it tops out at 8 GB of memory and 512 GB of storage, but offers dual USB-C ports, an HDMI port, Wi-Fi 6E, and an eco-friendly build made from post-consumer recycled plastics.  But what makes the MacBook Neo stand out from other budget laptops is its build quality. Its sleek aluminum body looks sleek, sturdy and as premium as Apple’s more expensive MacBooks. Will Acer be able to match the build quality of the Neos? Again, we can’t wait to get our hands on a proper review unit to see for ourselves. Acer, however, has another potential MacBook Neo rival that&#x27;s powered by Intel in the Swift Air 14.Acer hasn&#x27;t shared exact regional pricing or specific release dates yet, noting that specifications and availability will vary by market.

Acer is making a major play for the 2-in-1 laptop market as it unveiled new Snapdragon-powered notebooks in Taipei.

Acer is making a major play for the 2-in-1 laptop market as it unveiled new Snapdragon-powered notebooks in Taipei.