CES 2012: Acer Unveils World’s Thinnest Ultrabook, the Aspire S5

Acer has decided to take this year’s CES by storm, so after the introduction of the 1920x1200 10.1-inch Iconia Tab A700 the company moved into ultra-thin notebook territory where it unveiled that new Aspire S5, the world’s thinnest Ultrabook yet.

Standing just 15mm thick (0.59 inches), Acer’s 13.3-inch creation is housed inside an aluminum and magnesium chassis that weights no more than 1.35 kg (less than 3 lbs).

Despite its thin profile however, inside the Onyx Black case users will be greeted by an Intel Core processors, paired together with SSD storage for speed and increased shock resistance, a Dolby Home Theater v4 audio system and Acer’s own PowerSmart battery pack.

Said to feature three times longer lifespan than traditional batteries, this technology should definitely prove to be useful considering that there doesn’t seem to be any easy way to swap the Aspire S5 battery.

Another new feature introduced by Acer in the Aspire S5 is the so called “Magical I/O port panel,” which is basically a concealed connectivity panel that reminds us a lot of the original MacBook Air.

Unlike the first-gen MBA however, Acer’s take doesn’t include only a USB port, but HDMI, USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt connectors, the latter reaching transfer speeds up to 20Gbps, according to Acer.

"The Ultrabook is much more than just a product segment," said Jim Wong, president of Acer Inc.

"It's a new trend that will become the mainstream for mobile PCs, and customers will see the unique features gradually extended across Acer's notebook family," concluded the company’s rep.

No details regarding the pricing of the Aspire S5 were made public, but the Acer Ultrabook is expected to start shipping in the second quarter of 2012.

Considering the late launch date, it’s highly probable that Acer has decided to go with Intel’s upcoming Ivy Bridge processors for the Aspire S5.