Acer’s new, 16-inch Swift X is its first with Intel Arc graphics

Acer’s flagship line of Swift X notebooks is going to be one of the first to tote around Intel’s new Arc graphics. The 16-inch model, at least, will be Acer’s first with Intel’s attempt at toppling NVIDIA’s leadership position in the mobile graphics space. That comes with a handful of other quality-of-life improvements, including a 400-nit (up from 300 nits last year), 100 percent sRGB, 16:10 display. You can choose either a WQXGA (2,560 x 1,600) or WUXGA (1,920 x 1,200) resolution screen to cram inside, too.

Build-to-order options include a new 12th-generation Intel Core processor paired with the new Arc graphics. That will be paired with up to 32GB of LPDDR5 RAM and up to 2TB SSD storage, as well as WiFi 6e. In person, it’s a little lighter than its immediate predecessor although if you were walking past it in a hurry you’d barely know the difference. The webcam is now FHD, too.

I wasn’t able to take any benchmarks on the pre-release hardware I was able to see in the flesh, but Acer is feeling bullish about the performance here. It says that its new dual fan design, bigger air vents (and they are beefy) and bigger inlets on the keyboard should expel up to 10 percent more heat than previous versions. You’ll also be able to switch to silent running should the need arise, albeit at the cost of much of your performance.

Acer also made it clear that the existing Swift X, which is currently shipping with the option of an RTX 3050 / 3050 Ti, will remain on shelves for the foreseeable. That way, should you find Intel’s new silicon not to your taste, you can still get the upgrade you crave.

The 14-inch model, meanwhile, gets all of the other hardware bumps, including the better display options, the 12th generation Intel Chip, up to 16GB RAM and Windows 11. But graphics-wise, you’re left with the RTX 3050 / 3050 Ti, which is probably enough for most users who aren’t yet ready to jump feet-first into Intel’s new ocean.

We don’t have US pricing or availability for the Swifts just yet, but in the UK we’re expecting them to arrive by the end of February or the start of March for around £1,000 (around $1,350).

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