Acer Swift X 16 With Intel Arc A370M May Arrive Earlier Than Expected

Two Acer Swift X 16 laptop models featuring Intel's Arc A370M GPU have been spotted for sale at Proshop in Finland. The popular electronics retailer has both a Core i5 and i7 version of this relatively slim and light portable based around a 16-inch 1600p screen. Thanks to the listing, we get to see what are likely to be finalized specs and the Euro pricing of various SKUs. Proshop has these Acer Swift X 16 laptops as pre-order goods right now. It expects to fulfill orders from May 25.

A week ago we saw TechTuber Mathew Moniz look over the new Acer Swift X 16 and X 14 laptops for 2022. The former was of great interest, as it was confirmed to feature an unspecified Intel Arc GPU. Now we have a big clue from Proshop that the Swift X 16 will be relying on the Intel Arc A370M for its graphical firepower. As a reminder, last week we found out the smaller but slightly more expensive Swift X 14 would come packing similar specs overall, but an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti mobile GPU.

Officially, Intel's Arc A-Series GPUs are scheduled to launch on March 30, with mobile form factors the first to benefit. We still don't have any solid data about the performance users can expect of the Arc A370M. We have seen leaks that indicate users should be able to expect approximately Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 Super levels of performance. Of course, such leaks should always be accompanied by a sprinkling of salt.

In addition to the specific GPU information from Proshop, other specs that weren't shared by Mr Moniz last week include details of a Core i5 powered model, and the pricing and other changes the new SKU will bring to the lineup.

While the Acer Swift X 16 with an Intel Core i7-1260P (12C/16T) CPU and Intel Arc A370M GPU comes with 16GB RAM and 1TB NVMe + spare M.2 slot, the Intel Core i5-1240P (12C/16T) still has 16GB of RAM, thankfully, but only 512GB of NVMe storage. Remember that the Intel Core i7-1260P and i5-1240P have the same core configuration, but the former has base / boost of 3.4 / 4.7 GHz, rather than 3.3 / 4.4 GHz, as well as 18MB Intel Smart Cache (which is 4GB more than the i5 has).

The GPUs are said to be the same in both Acer Swift X 16 models, the Arc A370M. According to the latest info, this discrete mobile GPU features 4GB of VRAM on a 64-bit interface.

Turning to the pricing revealed by Proshop, we see that it has listed the Acer Swift X 16 with Core i7 at €1,249 + VAT (approx $1,380), while the Core i5 model (with smaller SSD) is €1,048 + VAT (approx $1,157). Last week Moniz said that the Acer Swift X 16 with Core i7 would sell in the US for $1,249, so this may be just typical Euro pricing variance, with additional taxes. 

A slight positive from the Proshop listing is that the Acer Swift X 16 with Intel Arc A370M may arrive, in Europe, ahead of Moniz's June release estimate. Don't get too excited though, as Proshop has inked in May 25, just a week ahead of the beginning of June.

With the official launch date for Intel Arc mobile products much earlier than that date (i.e. the end of this month), we hope to be able to see and test other similar designs ahead of late May or early June. By that time we are hoping to have more information about the Intel Arc desktop lineup too. A recently leaked Arc Alchemist model list points to the Arc A370M being joined by the A350M on mobile, with the first desktop parts being code-named A380 and A350. All these parts are expected to be based upon the smaller Xe-HPG architecture GPU die.