Acer Adopts Ryzen Pro for New Swift Edge Laptop

Acer is turning its premiere ultraportable into a bit of a business laptop. The company has debuted the Swift Edge, a 16-inch notebook using AMD Ryzen processors, up the the Ryzen 7 Pro 6850U (though also some non-Pro chips).

The laptop also features a 16:10 OLED display, which Asus claims offers 500 nits of peak brightness.

The processors available include the AMD Ryzen 5 6600U, Ryzen 6 Pro 6650U, Ryzen 7 6800U and Ryzen 7 Pro 6850U. Acer is also using the Microsoft Pluton security profile, which is shipped on by default.

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Those chips will be paired with up to 32GB of RAM and up to 1TB of PCIe storage, though Acer says exact specs and availability will differ based on the region where the laptop is sold.

But at 2.58 pounds (1.17 kg) and a 14.94 x 9.54 x 0.55-inch footprint, Acer's biggest claim here is that the system is large enough for work but light enough to be portable. The system has two USB Type-C 3.2 Gen 2x2 ports (up to 20 Gbps), two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports, an HDMI 2.1 port and a 3.5 mm headphone jack, which is more connectivity than many ultraportables these days. 

Acer is entering a crowded market of laptops meant to allow for working from anywhere, including stalwarts in both the business and consumer spaces like Lenovo and HP with laptop lines like the ThinkPad and Elite Dragonfly. Like those, the Swift Edge seems to skew a bit more towards enterprise with the Ryzen Pro chips and Pluton processors. The laptop is shipping this October in North America, starting at  $1,499.99. In Europe, the Middle East and Africa, it will start at €1,499, while in China it will begin at RMB 7,999.