Acer announces five Copilot+ PC laptops at IFA 2024: here’s what you need to know

Acer has just announced five AI laptops at IFA 2024, three of which update its ultraportable Swift range. The new Swift 14 AI comes in both Intel and Qualcomm incarnations, while the Swift 16 AI is Intel-only.

Acer also takes advantage of Qualcomm’s new 8-core Snapdragon chip to produce the highly affordable Swift Go 14 AI (Qualcomm). Last but we’re assuming not least comes the TravelMate P16 14 AI, based upon Intel’s Core Ultra 200V series chips.

Here are the details you need to know.

Acer Swift 14 AI (Intel)

This updated version of the Swift 14, Acer’s ultraportable brand aimed at consumers, comes with Intel’s new Core Ultra chips. At 1.26kg it’s light for an affordable 14in laptop, and Acer reckons you can get up to 29 hours of life (video playback).

If you want Core Ultra 9 power then you’ll need to buy the Acer Swift 16, but Acer will sell the Swift 14 AI with up to a Core Ultra 7 258V processor and 32GB of RAM. I suspect it will fly.

Your biggest choice – other than whether to buy the Qualcomm version instead – is the screen. There are two different OLED panels to choose from: 2,800 x 1,800 or 1,920 x 1,200. Or you can choose the latter resolution but with a cheaper IPS touch panel.

Acer Swift 16 AI (Intel)

You don’t just upgrade to a bigger 16in panel – it comes with a choice of OLED or IPS touchscreen, both with a 2,880 x 1,800 resolution – but also more power. The top spec includes a Core Ultra 9 288V chip, 2TB SSD and 32GB of RAM.

The downside is size, measuring 356mm wide, 249mm deep and 15.9mm at its thickest. That compares to 312 x 221 x 15.9mm for the Swift 14 AI. But it isn’t too heavy at 1.5kg while battery life is… not mentioned. But it should still be around 15 hours, at a guess.

Acer Swift 14 AI (AMD)

Unlike the Intel and Qualcomm processors mentioned here, the Ryzen AI 9 365 is a couple of months old. So, positively aged. Its inclusion pushes the weight up from 1.26kg to 1.32kg compared to the Intel version, and the thickness from 15.9mm to 17.9mm, but Acer reckons you can squeeze 27 hours of video playback out of this laptop.

While I haven’t benchmarked all the new chips yet, I’m confident that the AMD Ryzen AI 365 will beat/whip Intel for multicore speed while offering greater compatibility than Qualcomm. That particularly matters for games, and if that matters to you then Intel’s published benchmarks suggest that it holds the advantage. I suspect my own testing will bear this out too.

You get the same choice of 14in panels as the Intel version: one 2,880 x 1,800 OLED, one 2,880 x 1,800 IPS and one 1,920 x 1,200 IPS touch display.

Acer Swift Go 14 AI (Qualcomm)

I’m looking forward to testing this 1.34kg laptop, as it features Qualcomm’s new X1P-42-100 processor. This has eight cores, so won’t be the fastest performer in multicore tests, but the upside comes in battery life: up to 28 hours of video playback, according to Acer.

It’s a 14.5in display, which is one reason it’s a fraction heavier than the Swift 14 AI, and you can save money by choosing a specification with the 1,920 x 1,200 panel rather than 2,560 x 1,600. Both are IPS displays rather than OLED, which isn’t surprising because the Swift Go is Acer’s most affordable ultraportable brand.

Top memory? 32GB. Top SSD? 1TB. More than enough for the target price and audience.

Acer TravelMate P16 14 AI

TravelMate is Acer’s business brand, and this is the only one of the laptops here that will ship with Windows 11 Pro. Acer also sticks with corporate stalwart Intel, with the range peaking with the new Core Ultra 7 268V.

But what really matters here is the weight: at 999g, this slips into the sub-1kg category. The drawback is that it includes a smaller battery than some, but with Intel’s power efficiency Acer reckons you can get up to 14 hours in MobileMark 25.

It sticks with IPS panels rather than more power-hungry OLED devices, but note that if you choose the 2,880 x 1,800 panel rather than 1,920 x 1,200 you may still lose an hour or two from Acer’s figures.

I haven’t yet got my hands on this laptop, but from the photos and knowing that it uses a carbon fibre chassis I expect to both look and feel premium. And Acer doesn’t skimp on specs, with up to 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD.