Acer Shows Off a Laptop at Computex 2026 That's Almost Indistinguishable From a Desktop PC, Plus an Ultrabook Cheaper Than the MacBook

Acer brought a diverse lineup of laptops to Computex 2026 — from flagship gaming monsters to ultra-budget MacBook Neo rivals. The manufacturer is betting big on both maximum performance for enthusiasts and affordable options for the mass market.

The star of the show is the Predator Helios 18 AI — having won an iF Design Award, this laptop is aimed at enthusiast gamers and esports pros. Under the hood, you get an Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus paired with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Laptop graphics, and the maxed-out config packs a massive 256GB of DDR5 RAM and up to 6TB of storage across three NVMe PCIe 5.0 slots. The 18-inch Mini LED display with WQUXGA resolution cranks out up to 1000 cd/m² of brightness in HDR mode with full DCI-P3 coverage. The screen can switch between 4K at 120Hz and Full HD at 240Hz.

The Nitro 16, meanwhile, is the first Acer laptop to pack an AMD Ryzen 9 9955HX3D processor with an extra 64MB of L3 cache thanks to 3D V-Cache technology. AMD positions this chip as the world's fastest mobile gaming processor. According to the company, across 29 tested games at 1080p, the chip averaged 16% faster than its closest competitor. Graphics duties are handled by a laptop NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti with 12GB of GDDR7. The Nitro 16's screen is a 16-inch WQXGA panel with up to 240Hz refresh rate, 3ms response time, and 100% sRGB coverage. The cooling system includes two fans, four air intakes and four exhausts, along with vector heat pipes. The NitroSense utility gives you manual control over fan curves and performance modes.

Acer also announced a pair of ultrabooks aimed squarely at the budget segment recently heated up by Apple (just ask Apple). The Swift Air 14 is an ultrabook with a 14-inch WUXGA 120Hz display, an aluminum chassis that's 12.9mm thick and weighs 1.25 kg. Inside, there's an Intel Core Series 3 processor delivering up to 17 TOPS of AI performance via its NPU. The device lasts up to 19 hours on a battery while playing video, and fast charging gives you 50% capacity in 30 minutes. Pricing starts at $699, which matches the cost of the base MacBook Neo.

The more advanced Swift Spin 14 AI is a convertible with a 360-degree hinge. It comes in two versions: one with an Intel Core Ultra 9 386H processor and NPU up to 43 TOPS, and another with Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite or X2 Plus chips (up to 80 TOPS). The 14-inch IPS display runs at 120Hz with 100% sRGB coverage. Also included is an Acer Active Pen 420 stylus based on Wacom AES 2.0 technology with 4096 pressure levels.

Beyond laptops, Acer also showed off the Predator Atlas 8 Windows handheld with an 8-inch 120Hz display powered by an Intel Arc G3 Extreme processor, as well as the Nitro Blaze Link streaming console for local game streaming from your main PC.

So what do you think of Acer's refreshed lineup? Is there any one of these new devices you'd want on your desk? Let us know in the comments!