Acer and Intel showed off the Predator Atlas 8 gaming handheld, powered by the new Intel Arc G3 APUs, at Computex in June 2026, and while it was speculated that the new handhelds would not be cheap, given the specs and expected performance, it seems less and less likely that there will be even a single Acer Predator Atlas 8 priced at under $1,000.

Acer recently updated its Predator Atlas 8 product page in the UK in order to allow users to "register their interest," and the OEM handily included prices for the various different Atlas 8 models on the page, giving us an idea of what to expect for the rest of the world as well. The cheapest version of Acer's Predator Atlas 8 gaming handheld will cost £999.99, which converts to $1,346, although it's likely that pricing will be lower in the US. The Acer Predator Atlas 8 is slated to release "this autumn," suggesting a release window sometime between September and December.

Update Oct 31st: Acer has officially listed the Predator Atlas 8 for $1,299.99 at Best Buy, and the only available configuration at the time of update is the Intel Arc G3 Extreme-powered variant with a 512 GB SSD and 24 GB of memory—a variant not previously listed on Acer's product page and likely introduced to bring the price down, given the ever-increasing cost of SSDs. It's unclear when the Arc G3 versions with less memory will be available.

MSI revealed the new Intel Arc-powered Claw 8 EX AI+ gaming handhelds shortly ahead of Computex 2026, but pricing was still a mystery at that point in time, with availability and pricing announcements slated for June 23. However, it appears as though MSI has listed the new gaming handheld ahead of the official announcement. According to the apparent premature listing for the Claw 8 EX AI+ (CG3EM-024US) will cost $1,799, which isn't far off the €1,500 predictions from early leaks and rumors.

The MSI online store listing also confirms that the Claw 8 EX AI+ will start shipping on June 23, suggesting that component and memory shortages have not severely hampered the brand's ability to produce at least an initial production run for the launch. Hardware specifications are also unchanged from what MSI showed off at Computex, with the handheld still featuring 32 GB of LPDDR5x-8533 RAM, a 1 TB PCIe SSD, and an 80 Wh battery, alongside an 8-inch, 1080p, 120 Hz display with VRR and 500 nits peak brightness. The MSI store listing confirms that the Claw 8 EX AI+ will launch with Intel's Arc G3 Extreme, and there doesn't appear to be any word on a version of the new MSI handheld powered by the regular Intel Arc G3, which has an Intel Arc B370 iGPU, which has 10 Xe3 cores instead of the 12 found in the G3 Extreme.

Following a series of leaks about an upcoming Intel Panther Lake CPU for gaming handhelds, the hardware giant has officially announced the Intel Arc G3 CPU series, which features the powerful Arc B390 iGPU and optimizations for the Windows Xbox mode that started rolling out to gaming handhelds and Windows PCs alike not too long ago. Both new CPUs are based on the same 14-core CPU design—with 2 P-Cores, 8 E-Cores, and 4 LP E-Cores—but the Arc G3 CPU has a 100 MHz lower max Turbo frequency and a less powerful Arc B370 iGPU. The Arc G3 Extreme and the Arc G3 have already been confirmed as coming to the new Acer Predator Atlas 8 gaming handheld, slated to launch in October 2026.

The Arc G3 Extreme tops out at 4.7 GHz, while the Arc G3 is capable of 4.6 GHz max Turbo frequency. The base frequencies on both CPUs are the same 1.9 GHz on the P-Cores and 1.5 GHz on the E-Cores and LP E-Cores. The Arc B370 iGPU is built on the same Xe3 architecture as the B390, but it features 10 Xe cores instead of the 12 in the B390 iGPU. The cores in the Arc B370 iGPU are clocked at 2.2 GHz, and Intel claims the cut-back iGPU is capable of 90 TOPs of Int8 performance, compared to 113 TOPs on the G3 Extreme. In TechPowerUp's prior testing of the Arc B390, the iGPU was significantly faster than the AMD Radeon 890M that has become ubiquitous in so many gaming handhelds, suggesting that the B370 should at least be on-par with the 890M, if not slightly faster. Both new CPUs also have the same 25 W base power, with a maximum turbo TDP of 80 W and a minimum assured power of 15 W.