You could spend $999 on a MacBook Air. Or you could make a smart play, spend $200 less and get a Copilot+ PC with four times the storage and a significantly higher refresh rate display, then go out to a nice dinner and still have some change. That's what you can do with this deal on an Acer Swift 14 AI, reduced to $799.99 at Best Buy.
Of the three versions of the Snapdragon X chip available, the Snapdragon X Elite is the one you want if you're the type of laptop buyer that goes for the best performance. In past Intel terms, it would be the Core i7 of the range.
You get 12 CPU cores, an Adreno GPU, and an NPU with 45 TOPS performance, which kicks in when required in AI-related tasks. That includes a little gaming, with the NPU being used to power Microsoft's built-in Auto SR upscaler.
Of course, these aren't gaming laptops, but that doesn't mean they won't play games. It's perfectly possible, and to a surprisingly good standard. But it's not why you should buy one.
Honestly, Copilot+ isn't necessarily why you should buy one, either. Despite being the main branding push, it doesn't tell the story of what really makes the new Snapdragon X Elite laptops great. Performance, efficiency, battery life, and yes, AI.
The Acer Swift 14 AI (we've reviewed the Intel-powered version already) doesn't wow with any outrageous design points, it's just a nice looking, powerful laptop that gets the job done.
It's got a great display (and it's 120 Hz, unlike the more expensive MacBook Air), bags of storage, and in 2025, this is all the laptop most people could ever need.
Windows Central Insider
