Acer Swift 7 unveiled as first Intel Kaby Lake notebook

Ultra-thin device to debut at IFA

Acer has made several new product announcements in Berlin ahead of the start of IFA 2016 on 2 September.

The Acer Swift leads the pack, and represents the firm's new range of ultra-thin notebooks. There are four models ranging from the higher-end Swift 7 to the budget Swift 1.

With the exception of the Swift 1, the line will take advantage of Intel's newest generation of Kaby Lake processors. These are built on the 14nm manufacturing process, and contain improvements in performance and power efficiency compared with Skylake. The chips also support USB Type-C, native Thunderbolt 3 and native HDCP 2.2.

By our reckoning it will be the Swift 7 that dominates the headlines. At just 9.98mm it could be the thinnest notebook yet, eclipsing the HP Spectre 13 and Apple MacBook.

Acer manages to pack a lot into that 1.1kg shell, including a 7th-generation Core i5-7300U processor, up to 8GB of RAM, 256GB of SSD storage, a 13.3in IPS Full HD panel and a battery that will last a claimed nine hours.

The Swift 7 will be available from October starting at $999.

Meanwhile, the Swift 5 trades thinness for extra battery life and larger storage options. Acer has clearly taken a leaf out of Dell's book and crammed a 14in display into a 13.3in chassis. A touchscreen option is available too.

A maximum of 8GB of RAM will complement the Kaby Lake internals, and there are options for a 256GB or 512GB SSD. To top it off, the Swift 5 will survive up to 13 hours away from a socket. The Swift 5 starts at $749 and will be available from November.

If skinny models aren't your thing the Swift 3 gives you a little more to hold onto at 17.95mm thick and weighing 1.5kg. Starting at $499, the Swift 3 has the most options of the lot.

You're able to choose between Skylake and Kaby Lake processors, HD or Full HD displays, up to 8GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage. You'll get one hour less battery life than the model above it too, which at 12 hours is still not bad.

The Swift 1 sits at the bottom of the ladder, made all the more evident by the processor choices. There's the option of Intel Pentium or Celeron CPU, 4GB of RAM and eMMC storage starting at 32GB. It's not all bad news, though, as Acer's cost-saving option will last a full 12 hours and not break the bank at $249. µ