CES 2025: Acer's new Aspire Vero 16 laptop is partially made from *checks notes* oyster shells

Didn't have that one on my bingo card.
By
Haley Henschel
 on 
The Acer Aspire Vero 16 on a desk.
Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable

The journey of Acer's latest eco-conscious laptop begins in the brackish waters near its home base in Taiwan.

The tech company announced on Monday a next-generation Aspire Vero 16 that's made partially out of oyster shells, which have been cleaned, crushed, and mixed with a blend of more than 70 percent post-consumer recycled plastic. (You best believe it's a world's first.) Acer showcased the PC ahead of CES 2025, and it'll be available for purchase this April starting at $799.99.

The Acer Aspire Vero 16 on a desk.
Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable

Eric Ackerson, Acer's associate director of product marketing, told Mashable in a demo that the reasoning behind Acer's decision to make a laptop with oysters was twofold: They're in abundance in its headquartered country, and they were easy to incorporate with the PCR it was already using in previous generations of the Aspire Vero 16. (The last iteration was made from 60 percent recycled plastic.)

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Oysters used to make the Acer Aspire Vero 16.
Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable

For what it's worth, you wouldn't know the Aspire Vero 16 was made from armor of dead molluscs just by looking at it. It's chassis is smooth, gray, and lightly speckled up close — pretty minimalist, aside from a pearlescent Acer logo at the top of its lid. A press release notes that it meets a military-grade durability standard for shock resistance and overall ruggedness.

A close-up of the Acer Aspire Vero 16's keyboard.
Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable

Underneath all that oyster, the Aspire Vero 16 runs on hot-off-the-press Intel Core Ultra 200H (Arrow Lake) processors with up to 32GB of RAM and 2TB of storage. All things considered, we're jonesing to test it: Its predecessor's battery and performance kind of shucked.

Mashable is on the ground live at CES 2025! We’re covering all the wildest and most important developments this week, so please keep checking back in with us. Want to submit a product you represent for our teams’ consideration as we identify the Best of CES? Here’s more info on how to do it.

Topics CES

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Haley Henschel
Senior Shopping Reporter

Haley Henschel is a Chicago-based Senior Shopping Reporter at Mashable who reviews and finds deals on popular tech, from laptops to gaming consoles and VPNs. She has years of experience covering shopping holidays and can tell you what’s actually worth buying on Black Friday and Amazon Prime Day. Her work has also explored the driving forces behind digital trends within the shopping sphere, from dupes to 12-foot skeletons.

Haley received a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and honed her sifting and winnowing skills at The Daily Cardinal. She previously covered politics for The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, investigated exotic pet ownership for Wisconsin Watch, and blogged for some of your favorite reality stars.

In her free time, Haley enjoys playing video games, drawing, taking walks on Lake Michigan, and spending time with her parrot (Melon) and dog (Pierogi). She really, really wants to get back into horseback riding. You can follow her on X at @haleyhenschel or reach her via email at [email protected].


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