Laptop Recommendations for CSE Students

Many incoming students and families ask whether laptops or specific devices are required for College of Science and Engineering (CSE) coursework. The short answer is no—there are no formal requirements. Most devices, whether Mac or PC, will work well for your studies. Many CSE students use one or the other successfully.

Most CSE course software is cloud-based, so high-end processing speeds are generally not necessary. However, if you’re looking for guidance on what to buy, the CSE-IT team has outlined some helpful recommendations below.

Minimum Laptop Specifications

• Operating system: Windows 11 or macOS
  
• Processor: Intel Core i7 or AMD Ryzen (multi-core)
  
• RAM: At least 16 GB
  

Storage: At least a 256 GB solid-state drive (SSD); 512 GB is preferred for better performance

Recommended Devices

Mac (Apple)

• Model: 13-inch MacBook Air
  
• Specs: Apple M4 chip with 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU, 24 GB memory, 512 GB SSD
  

Windows (PC)

CSE recommends the Dell Latitude Pro series with the following options:

• Standard use (including AppsToGo):
  
  • Intel Core i5 processor
    
  • 16 GB RAM
    
  • 256 GB SSD
    
• High-performance needs (running programs like MATLAB or Ansys locally):
  
  • Intel Core i7 processor
  • 32 GB RAM
  • 512 GB SSD

Additional Considerations

• University IT provides access to additional cloud storage and applications for coursework involving high computation or graphics.
  
• While upgrading memory or adding a GPU (graphics processing unit) may enhance performance, it is not required.
  
• Students who expect to use graphics-heavy software locally may want to consider a laptop with a dedicated GPU.
  
• Alternatively, students can use AppsToGo or access high-performance computers in CSE Labs for resource-intensive tasks.