As part of our trip to Taipei for Computex 2026 coverage, Acer arranged a Q&A session with a number of the company’s executives. And perhaps it should not have been a surprise, but the MacBook Neo was brought up pretty frequently. Which makes sense, as it’s the first time that Apple has released a laptop that can truly be considered entry-level, especially where price tags are concerned.
This naturally shakes up the segment, especially when Windows laptops of similar performance by other makers, including Acer, are pricing their machines above what Apple has. This may change when more laptops using the Qualcomm Snapdragon C get released in the future, but for now, it’s probably only a mild exaggeration to say that most laptop makers see the MacBook Neo as an immediate threat.
When asked what was his reaction to the MacBook Neo’s announcement, Jerry Kao, Chief Operating Officer of Acer, simply said “shock”. But he quickly followed up by saying that he’s also happy, because whenever there’s a “new variable” that gets thrown into the mix, “maybe there’s an opportunity”. This is because it has spurred brands that make Windows laptops, including Acer, to compete and come up with a product that can compete.
Kao goes on to say that even as of Computex 2026, there are many brands with products that are competitive against the MacBook Neo, be it in terms of price or performance. He also brought up “features Apple doesn’t have, but we have”, mentioning agentic AI capabilities as an example. But overall, the goal is to be on par with Apple products in fields where it does well, or even exceed that benchmark, while going full speed ahead with things that Windows laptops can do but the fruit company can’t. This will ultimately provide end users with more choices.
A follow-up question from the floor then points to two laptops that Acer has revealed leading up to Computex 2026 that seemingly fits into the MacBook Neo challenger bracket – the Swift Air and Aspire Go. That last one is especially noteworthy because it’s among the earliest machines announced to run the new Qualcomm Snapdragon C chip.
To that, Kao says that this product segment has always been available in the Acer product lineup, catering to different combinations of price and performance. He also clarifies that the Swift Air is one step above the Aspire Go. He also notes that these two products were not made specifically to compete with the MacBook Neo, but people make that assumption because the price point of the two laptops are similar.
Which is an interesting thing to reveal, since the company kept the prices of both the Swift Air 14 and the Aspire Go very close to its chest when they were first revealed. Of course, it will be quite awhile before either of those laptops hits shelves, and consequently the benchmark scoreboards. In turn, it will overall be quite a wait before we find out if those laptops are truly competitors to the laptop that’s making waves for making use of a phone chipset.
@lowyatnet A quick glance at some of what Acer has unveiled as part of its Computex 2026 lineup #acer #predator #acernitro #computex2026
