If paying less for a laptop with a larger storage capacity, more RAM, and a touch screen is important to you, the Acer Swift 14 could be a great choice. On the other hand, if you value a higher-quality display, longer battery life, and a more robust build, despite having less storage and RAM, the Apple MacBook Pro 14 may be more suitable. The MacBook Pro also has better support for certain professional applications due to its operating system. Keep in mind the MacBook Pro is heavier and not as easy to carry around as the Acer Swift 14. Give Feedback
this description is based on the product variant with some specs and product variant with some specs. At the time of writing, the variant with some specs cost some dollars and the variant with some specs cost some dollars.
Advantages of the Acer Swift 14
Excellent portability
Advantages of the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (Late 2023)
Very good for engineering and design
Excellent overall display quality
Best in class overall build quality
Excellent battery life
Best in class speakers
Best in class keyboard
Key differences
Screen Quality
7.6/10
9.2/10
14.0in
SIZE
14.2in
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
3024 x 1964
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
Mini LED
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
120Hz
458.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
489.0 nits
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 has a better screen than the Acer Swift 14 for general use, AI, and engineering and design.
The Acer Swift 14 boasts a display with ample resolution and brightness, making it appealing for everyday tasks and visual clarity in design work, but its limited refresh rate hampers the gaming experience. The Apple MacBook Pro 14, with its high-resolution, bright screen, and wide color support, excels in providing precise color representation crucial for professional engineering and design projects. However, both the Acer and MacBook Pro fall short for 3D gaming due to their lower refresh rates, which can't deliver the smooth visuals preferred by gamers.
Battery
9.0 Hours
17.0 Hours
The Acer Swift 14 has 9 hours of battery life. The Apple MacBook Pro 14 has 17 hours of battery life.
Battery life estimate is based on a mix of common use patterns. More portable and higher performing laptops tend to have less battery life.
Build Quality
7.4/10
10.0/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (Late 2023) has best in class build quality, while the Acer Swift 14 has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$1,400
$1,649
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
The Acer Swift 14 has a price of $1,400 and the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (Late 2023) costs $1,649.
The Acer Swift 14 and Apple MacBook Pro 14 (Late 2023) are both very good for general use.
The Acer Swift 14 offers a good balance for general use with a robust CPU, more RAM, and a high-resolution touchscreen, enhancing productivity and multitasking, along with a lightweight design and long battery life for portability. In comparison, the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (Late 2023) with its powerful M3 chip, superior Mini LED display, and longer battery life excels in screen quality and performance for more demanding tasks, though it’s slightly heavier and has less storage and RAM than the Acer.
Gaming and AI
6.7/10
6.7/10
3.8/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
4.5/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
3024 x 1964
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
120Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
No
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
8.7/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
8.7/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (Late 2023) and Acer Swift 14 are both only fair for gaming and AI.
The Acer Swift 14, with a higher performance GPU suitable for Windows games and a decent refresh rate, offers good gaming and 3D capabilities, but the MacBook Pro 14 stands out for 3D applications due to its powerful integrated GPU and high screen refresh rate, despite the limitation that many popular games do not run on the macOS platform.
Engineering and Design
7.9/10
8.1/10
9.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
3.8/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
4.5/10
16.0 GB
RAM
8.0 GB
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Apple MacBook Pro 14 (Late 2023) to be very good for engineering and design, while the Acer Swift 14 is good.
The Acer Swift 14, with its advanced Intel processor, ample RAM, and high-resolution IPS touchscreen, provides robust performance and crisp display quality for engineering software and design tasks, with added portability due to its lighter weight. In contrast, the Apple MacBook Pro 14's M3 chip and integrated 10-core GPU deliver exceptional power for complex computations and graphics-intensive work, complemented by its superior Mini LED screen, but its higher weight slightly reduces its portability.
Content Creation
8.2/10
8.4/10
9.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
3024 x 1964
16.0 GB
RAM
8.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
Mini LED
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (Late 2023) and Acer Swift 14 are both very good for content creation.
PerfectRec’s Content Creation Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for photo editing, video editing and other content creation tasks.
Software Development
8.2/10
8.2/10
9.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
16.0 GB
RAM
8.0 GB
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
3024 x 1964
7.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.5/10
The Acer Swift 14 and Apple MacBook Pro 14 (Late 2023) are both very good for software development.
PerfectRec’s Software Development Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for software developers.
Portability
Excellent
Very Good
14.0in
SIZE
14.2in
2.6 lbs
WEIGHT
3.4 lbs
0.5in
THICKNESS
0.6in
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Acer Swift 14 to have excellent portability, while the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (Late 2023) has very good portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Give feedback
We’re constantly working to improve.
How the Acer Swift 14 and the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (Late 2023) compare to other laptops
Olivier Martin, Ryan Lim, John Peroramas | April 2023
"The Acer Swift 14 is good for school use. Its compact design makes it easy to carry around, and its battery lasts easily through a typical school day. You can configure the laptop with an FHD+ or QHD+ display; both look sharp and get bright enough to combat glare. The keyboard feels tactile but can be a little tiring to type on over an extended period, and while the touchpad is small, it's responsive to all movements and gestures. Its Intel 13th Gen. CPU can handle nearly every type of workload; however, its integrated graphics perform poorly, so it isn't ideal for students in technical fields like 3D graphics."
"In the Apple MacBook Pro 14 2023, the M2 Pro is slowed down. From the improved 5nm process, the new M2 Pro is a very solid upgrade. Graphics performance has increased by about 25% in tandem with a clear improvement in efficiency. The processor has also seen a performance leap of up to 20%, but this is accompanied by an increase in consumption of up to 25%. Fundamentally, Apple its maintaining its advantage over AMD and Intel, particularly in optimized applications where the results are very good in view of the comparatively low power consumption."
Get a great deal on the Acer Swift 14 or the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (Late 2023)
About Acer
Acer is a prominent Taiwanese electronics brand which makes a wide range of laptops, with multiple product lines catering to personal use, gaming, and business use. They are renowned for having exceptional value for money, as they frequently offer good specifications at a lower price than other manufacturers.
About Apple
Apple, an American technology company, is one of the world’s largest company in terms of market capitalization. Their MacBook laptops feature a slim, minimalistic design, class-leading battery life, and premium display and speaker quality. In 2020 Apple switched from using Intel processors to their own silicon chips which have excellent performance and efficiency. The macOS operating system is the second most widely used OS, after Windows.
This information was produced and vetted by the PerfectRec laptops team. We are a product research and recommendation organization that meticulously reviews and evaluates the latest laptop information and makes it digestible for you.
By the numbers
380
Laptops evaluated
48,640
Laptops stats compiled
13
Proprietary Laptops ratings developed
130,995
Recommendations made
28,383
Consumer hours saved
About the laptop team
Joe Golden, Ph.D
CEO and Laptops Editor
Joe is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.
Jason Lew
Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Jason is a staff expert and software engineer that has been making laptop recommendations for 7 years and moderates one of the largest laptop subreddits.
Chandradeep Chowdhury
Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Chandradeep is a staff expert and software engineer and expert in televisions and monitors. He’s been making monitor recommendations for ten years.
Craig Russell
Laptops Expert
Craig is a UK-based laptops expert. Craig works in IT, where he recommends and supports laptops and PCs for clients and has been recommending laptops on Reddit for five years.