CES 2024: This laptop’s weird trackpad is perfect for YouTube addicts

The Acer Swift Go 14 has been announced ahead of CES 2024, and at first glance, it might look like a regular laptop.

It has the popular silver chassis and clamshell form factor – what’s the big deal about it? Well, when you launch YouTube on Swift Go 14, something weird happens with the trackpad.

Swift Go 14 stylish trackpad

Why go through the arduous process of dragging your cursor all the way to the pause button when you’re watching YouTube on your laptop and need to pause to get some lunch? Your poor index finger shouldn’t have to go through such a difficult task.

That’s why Acer, to solve our first-world problems, decided to put media controls on the trackpad. In other words, the trackpad doubles as a hub for play, pause, forward, and forward buttons.

The best part is that Swift Go 14 can automatically detect whether media is playing on the display. Therefore, these LED light controls should not only appear on YouTube, but also on sites like Spotify, Twitch, and other media platforms.

Photo credit: Kimberly Gedeon/Mashable

I tested the Swift Go 14 at the Acer showcase. When I open YouTube, the integrated media controls on the trackpad light up, allowing me to easily pause, play, and skip.

Photo credit: Joe Maldonado/Mashable

However, when I try to pull up other sites Apart from YouTube (e.g., Twitch), controls not shown. However, Acer stresses that I’m experimenting with pre-production models and the devices that hit shelves will work as they are marketed. We’ll know for sure once we put Swift Go 14 to the test.

12 hours of battery life?

According to reports, Swift Go 14 is equipped with a new Intel Core Ultra processor designed to improve the performance of artificial intelligence workflows, and has a battery life of up to 12.5 hours. (Again, once Mashable receives the review unit, I’ll have to test it in our lab.)

Photo credit: Joe Maldonado/Mashable

It comes with up to 32GB of RAM and up to 2TB of SSD storage. While all configurations offer a 14-inch display, you can choose the panel you want, from a 1920 x 1200 pixel IPS screen with a 60Hz refresh rate to a 2880 x 1880 pixel OLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate.

It comes with a 1440p webcam, and from what I saw in the demo, it has a microSD card slot, a headphone jack, two Thunderbolt 4 ports, two USB Type-A ports, A Kensington lock slot and an HDMI port.

Photo credit: Joe Maldonado/Mashable

The Swift Go 14 will be available in March, starting at $749.99.