Key takeaways
- Acer’s new flagship gaming laptop maxes out at an Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus and an RTX 5090 Laptop GPU with 24GB of GDDR7 memory.
- The top configuration takes up to 256GB of DDR5 RAM and 6TB of storage across three PCIe Gen 5 SSD slots — laptop numbers that read like a desktop.
- Acer set August 2026 for North America and EMEA, with Australia in Q4 2026, and has not announced a price or a Philippine release.
Acer used Computex 2026 to introduce the Predator Helios 18 AI, an 18-inch gaming laptop that, in its highest configuration, pairs an Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 Laptop GPU carrying 24GB of GDDR7 — the high-speed graphics memory the GPU draws on for games and rendering. The company laid out the specs on its official newsroom page on May 29.
The Helios line is Acer’s desktop-replacement tier, and this model leans into that. It can be built out to 256GB of DDR5 RAM and 6TB of storage spread across three PCIe Gen 5 NVMe SSD slots — a configuration that reads more like a workstation than a portable. The 18-inch Mini LED panel runs at 4K (3840 x 2400) and 1000 nits, with a dual-mode switch between 4K at 120Hz and 1080p at 240Hz for players who want frames over resolution.
Cooling is the usual flagship arms race: dual sixth-gen AeroBlade 3D fans, a vector heat pipe, and liquid metal on the processor. Connectivity covers two Thunderbolt 5 Type-C ports, HDMI 2.1, Wi-Fi 7, and Bluetooth 5.4, and it ships on Windows 11. Acer also says the laptop took an iF Design Award 2026.
Acer has not announced pricing for any market, and there’s no Philippine availability date — the company listed North America and EMEA for August 2026 and Australia for Q4 2026, with no other regions named. Local distributor Acer Philippines typically brings Predator hardware in after the global rollout, often months later and at a premium over the dollar figure, so a peso price isn’t set.
A maxed-out Helios 18 AI is the kind of machine very few buyers will spec to the ceiling; the 256GB RAM and 6TB storage ceilings exist to be quoted, not ordered. For now, Acer says final pricing comes out later.
Source Acer
