Laptop Computer Recommendations for Students

While the selectionPurchase of ana appropriatenew laptop computer is a personal decision,choice. weThe dofollowing haveresource ais few recommendationsdesigned to help guide you inmake an informed decision.

Students should check with your department for program specific technology requirements.  

Choose a Windows PC with the process. The following are minimums to help ensure that your laptop will serve you well for your four years at Clarkson. 

Special Note:  Although it is not a requirement, students may find it useful to have access to a computer or tablet with a pen-touch interface to facilitate the electronic submission of handwritten materials.

General Undergraduate Computer Recommendationsspecifications:

	Windows PC	Apple Macintosh*
Operating System	Windows 11	macOS 15.5 (Sequoia) or later
Productivity Tools	Microsoft Office 365 for Education is available to current students at no charge.
Processor Type	RECOMMENDED Intel Core i7 (14th GenerationGen or newer) (Preferred); or   MINIMUM  Intel Core i5 (14th Generation or newer)	RECOMMENDED Apple M4 chip(Minimum)   MINIMUM  Apple M3 chip
Memory	RECOMMENDED 32 GB RAMRam (Preferred); or   MINIMUM  16 GB RAM Ram (Minimum)
Storage	RECOMMENDED 1 TB SSD (Preferred); or   MINIMUM  500 GB SSD  (Minimum)
Warranty	3-year parts and labor
Insurance	Comprehensive breakage, theft, hazard
Productivity Tools	Microsoft Office 365 for Education is available to current students at no charge.

*IfIntel youis the preferred processor based on computers used in Clarkson computer labs. These are consideringtested afor Mac,software pleasecompatibility considerand aperformance. largerSimilar hardtesting drivehas (thenot been performed on processors by other vendors, such as AMD.

Regarding MacOS: 

Apple devices, such as MacBook, iPad or other iOS devices, for student academic or research work at Clarkson is not recommended 1because TBdifficulties SSDoccur iswhen ideal) and avoid devices with Apple Silicon.  This to accommodate "dual-booting" into Windows using Boot Camp (link), which may be necessary for someutilizing Windows-only programs that are requiredused forwidely some classes.  A free version ofin the curriculum. If purchasing an Apple device (not recommended), use the following minimums specifications: 

Operating System: MacOS 26 (Tahoe) or later
Processor Type: Apple M4 chip (or later)
Memory: 32 GB RAM
Storage: 1 TB SSD
Warranty: 3 yrs parts and labor
Insurance: Comprehensive breakage, theft, hazard

Windows 1011 Student Edition operating system is available for all students through Microsoft Azure for Teaching (link). 

Ask

Seek theFurther helpdeskAssistance

for

For details.additional assistance please contact, Clarkson OIT Help Desk;

OurOnline: processorGet recommendationsHelp
Email: arehelpdesk@clarkson.edu
Call: based315-268-HELP on hardware specs that we use in our classrooms and computer labs where we have fully tested software compatibility and performance.  It's possible that other vendors such as AMD have processors that will perform as well as the Intel recommendations, but we have not tested them ourselves.(x4357)