Acer’s Swift Edge clamshell introduced in the present day is a mild reminder of the so-called Intel tax. The PC gives a bigger display screen with costlier show know-how and pixels than a equally specced Acer Swift 5 ultralight for a similar value. The different large distinction between the 2 laptops is that the brand new Swift Edge opts for AMD Ryzen 6000 processors, whereas the Swift 5 makes use of Intel twelfth Gen CPUs.

Acer is releasing the Swift Edge within the US this Friday with a Ryzen 7 6800U, carrying eight cores, 4MB of L2 cache, 16MB of L3 cache, and a clock velocity of two.7 GHz that may increase to 4.7 GHz. Combined with 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 1TB of PCIE 4.0 SSD storage, it’s going to have a $1,500 MSRP.

That’s the identical MSRP that the Swift 5 has as of writing and after we reviewed it in July. For that value, you get an Intel Core i7-1260P with 4 efficiency cores (2.1-4.7 GHz), eight environment friendly cores (1.5-3.4 GHz), and 18MB of L3 cache, plus the identical RAM and storage specs because the aforementioned Swift Edge configuration.

The Swift Edge and Swift 5 have comparable port choice, as properly: two USB-C ports (though, the Intel PC’s ports have Thunderbolt 4 certification and work at as much as 40Gbps, slightly than the Swift Edge ports’ 20Gbps), two USB-A ports (USB 3.2 Gen 1), one HDMI 2.1 port, and a 3.5 mm jack.

However, the Swift Edge may have a notable, properly, edge, in terms of the display screen. It has a 16-inch, 3840×2400 OLED non-touch show, in comparison with the 14-inch, 2560×1600 IPS touchscreen on the Swift 5. The OLED display screen is specced with 100% DCI-P3 shade protection, as much as 500 nits of brightness, and VESA DisplayHDR True Black 500 certification. In our Acer Swift 5 evaluation, we recorded 541 nits and 83.1 % DCI-P3 protection.

Of course, there’s extra to a laptop computer than its specs sheet; we might should get a more in-depth have a look at issues like construct high quality (the Swift Edge has a magnesium-alloy chassis), audio, the webcam, and the show in motion. But an early have a look at these specs exhibits which you can improve elsewhere when you’re fascinated with an AMD CPU over an Intel one.

And there’s good purpose to be. Our Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 evaluation examined an equally specced Ryzen 7 Pro 6850U (the Swift Edge ought to finally be provided on this US with this CPU too, an Acer rep confirmed to Ars Technica) and located spectacular efficiency, together with usually stronger battery life and built-in Radeon 680M graphics when put next in opposition to Intel’s twelfth Gen cell chips. The Swift Edge will not essentially be as highly effective as a $1,900, business-focused ThinkPad, however Ryzen 6000 has potential for Acer to leverage.

Just as there’s ceaselessly a so-called Intel tax on PCs, there’s often an OLED tax on battery life, too. Acer claims the Swift Edge’s 54 Wh battery can last as long as 10.5 hours of video playback, eight hours shopping the online, and seven.5 hours on the MobileMark 2018 benchmark. Those are higher numbers than the smaller Swift 5 claims with its 56 Wh battery (14, 14, and seven.5 hours, respectively).

Acer’s Swift Edge is a brand new addition to Acer’s Swift lineup of thin-and-light clamshells, which incorporates the Swift 5 flagship ultralight, and Swift X AMD and Swift X Intel, which each embody devoted graphics playing cards. The Swift Edge continues a pattern we have seen over the previous few years as AMD chips more and more discover their manner into not simply extra laptop computer fashions, however extra higher-end designs. The “Edge” moniker may assist AMD shake a status that has many customers contemplating its chips as a finances different to Intel.

The Swift Edge launches this Friday at $1,500 as specced above (SKU SFA16-41-R7SU). It ought to finally begin at a Ryzen 5 6600U and go as much as 32GB of reminiscence, however an Acer rep advised Ars that it might not promote these configurations within the US.