Acer’s new Swift Air 14 wants to take on the MacBook Neo, but it may be outgunned
Acer has introduced the Swift Air 14, a new laptop aimed at competing with Apple's MacBook Neo. Priced at $699, it features Intel's Core Series 3 chips but faces challenges in performance compared to Apple's A18 chip. Additionally, the Swift Air 14 lacks the capabilities to run advanced AI features locally due to its limited NPU performance.
- ▪The Swift Air 14 is priced at $699, which is $100 more than the MacBook Neo.
- ▪It is powered by Intel's new Core Series 3 chips, known as Wildcat Lake.
- ▪Early tests indicate that the Wildcat Lake chips still lag behind Apple's A18 in performance.
- ▪The laptop will not qualify as a Copilot+ PC due to its NPU delivering only 17 TOPS.
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Computex 2026 This story is part of our coverage of Computex, the world's biggest computing conference. Updated less than 8 minutes ago Apple gave Windows laptop makers a serious headache when it launched the MacBook Neo in March at $599. Powered by the A18 chip, it quickly became one of the easiest laptops to recommend for students and casual users who did not specifically need Windows. Acer is now trying to push back with the Swift Air 14, a 14-inch laptop announced just ahead of Computex 2026. It starts at $699 and uses Intel’s new Core Series 3 chips, also known as Wildcat Lake. On paper, it looks like one of the first serious attempts to build a cheaper Windows laptop that can sit near Apple’s Neo without looking completely outclassed.
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