Acer’s new premium Chromebooks are made for business

Meet the world’s most powerful Chromebook.

Or at least that’s what Acer’s Chairman and CEO Jason Chen said about its new Chromebook Spin 13 at Acer’s global press conference in New York on May 23. Acer, which Chen said has delivered more than 10 million Chromebooks to date, outfitted the all-aluminum 13.5-inch two-in-one Chromebook with an eighth-gen Intel Core i3-8130U or Core i5-8250U processor and up to 16GB of memory (something that typically taps out at 4GB) and 128GB of eMMC storage.

The additional memory and speedier Core i3 or i5 CPUs will no doubt be helpful when taking advantage of Android apps on the convertible’s 2,256×1,504-pixel, pen-enabled display and the included Wacom EMR stylus. And the 360-degree hinges let you use it as a laptop or tablet or anything in between. 

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Dual USB-C ports and 2×2 802.11ac Wi-Fi help round out the package, and if you’d rather have it as just a straight-up laptop, Acer will have you covered with its Chromebook 13 ($145 at Amazon) that’s got the same design and component options, minus the 360-degree hinges. 

Pricing for the Chromebook Spin 13 will range from $750 to $950, while the Chromebook 13 will be available for $650 with a Core i3 or $750 with a Core i5. They arrive in September, however they will only be available through the channel to commercial customers in North America. An Acer spokeswoman confirmed they will definitely be available through retail to consumers at some point, but had no details on timing. 

Acer also announced a 15.6-inch Chromebook Spin 15, the industry’s first two-in-one Chromebook at that size. Oddly, Acer opted to keep the specs a bit more modest despite the larger screen size: 

• 1,920×1,080-pixel display
• Intel Pentium N4200, Celeron N3450 or N3350 processors
• 4GB or 8GB of memory
• 32GB or 64GB of storage

Again, you can opt for a standard laptop version, the Acer Chromebook 15. Available with or without a touchscreen, it has the same component options as the Spin 15, but Acer says it’ll get an hour more battery life at 14 hours.

Lastly, if you don’t care for Chrome and want a “real” OS, Acer will have a new 15.6-inch version of its Swift 5 running Windows 10. Made from superlight magnesium-aluminum alloy like LG’s Gram 15, the Swift 5 weighs less than 1 kilogram (2.2 lbs). Slim bezels surround the full HD touchscreen adding to the upscale look. Like many of Acer’s laptops, the Swift 5 will come in multiple configurations with:

• Up to Intel Core i7-8550U processor
• Up to Nvidia GeForce GTX MX150 graphics
• up to 16GB of memory, upgradable to 32GB
• Up to 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD or up to 2TB HDD

Acer didn’t have pricing or availability ready for the announcement of the Swift 5. Or for the Chromebooks, either, so we’ll just have to sit and wait to see.

Originally published on May 23, 2018
Update on Aug. 3, 2018 9:15 a.m. ET with pricing and availability.