Laptop Requirements & Recommendations
General and Undergraduate
Students in departments that do not have a specific requirement listed below should follow the general recommendations. Before purchasing a laptop, we recommend contacting your department to confirm your choice.
Contact the CCS Helpdesk with questions regarding laptop build requirements.
The following are recommendations for departments that do not have a specific laptop requirement. Before purchasing a laptop, we recommend contacting your department to confirm your choice. Contact the CCS Helpdesk at [email protected] with questions regarding laptop build requirements.
These are the minimum suggested specs; better/faster/larger/newer is fine as long as supported by applicable application software. Additional information regarding software compatibility.
Apple MacBook Pro
Educational discounts are available at Apple Stores or the Apple Education Store.
- Processor: M1 Pro or Better
- Memory: 32GB unified Memory
- Hard Drive: 512GB SSD storage or better
- AppleCare 3-year protection plan: Highly recommended
Windows PC
- Windows 10 Pro 64-bit OS or Windows 11 (Note: Windows 10 will reach end of support on October 14, 2025)
- Processor: 64-bit Intel® Xeon, or i-Series processor with Intel® or AMD equivalent. Highest affordable CPU speed with multiple cores recommended
- Memory: 32GB of Memory
- Graphic Card: Supported NVIDIA® or AMD graphics card with OpenGL 4.6 support and a certified driver. 8GB Memory minimum.
- Hard Drive: 512GB SSD
- 3-yr protection plan: Highly recommended
Required Software
- Adobe Creative Cloud: Provided through CCS for all registered students
- Microsoft Office: Available for free (Get started with Microsoft Office.)
Communication Design & Strategy students enrolling at the College for Creative Studies will be required to own or purchase a laptop computer for their studies.
The following information provides the minimum hardware configuration and software requirements. Any Apple MacBook or PC purchase made beyond the minimum requirements is your choice. This investment will remain current throughout your 4-year experience at CCS. Our curricular approach blends this tool and software seamlessly into your learning experience and prepares you for working professionally. Please Note: All classroom demonstrations of software will be conducted on an Apple platform. If you have any questions regarding this requirement, please contact your Department Chair.
Information regarding software compatibility.
Apple MacBook Pro 16”
Educational discount available at Apple Stores or the Apple Education Store.
- Processor: M3 Pro or Better (M5 recommended)
- Memory: 16GB unified Memory (24GB recommended)
- Hard Drive: 512GB SSD storage
- AppleCare 3-year protection plan: Strongly recommended
Apple MacBook Pro 14”
Educational discount available at Apple Stores or the Apple Education Store.
- Processor: M3 Pro or Better (M5 recommended)
- Memory: 16GB unified Memory (24GB recommended)
- Hard Drive: 512GB SSD storage
- AppleCare 3-year protection plan: Strongly recommended
Apple MacBook Air 15”
Educational discount available at Apple Stores or the Apple Education Store.
- Processor: M4 or Better
- Memory: 16GB unified Memory (24GB recommended)
- Hard Drive: 512GB SSD storage
- AppleCare 3-year protection plan: Strongly recommended
Required Software
- Adobe Creative Cloud: Provided through CCS for all registered students
- Microsoft Office: Available for free (Get started with Microsoft Office.)
MacBook Laptops are Recommended to all Communication Design and Strategy Students but a PC Equivalent can be used as an alternative. Here are comparable PC Laptops. Top Brands include ASUS, Dell, Lenovo, HP and Razer.
Windows Laptop Equivalent – 16” High Performance PC
Educational discounts may be available through manufacturers.
• Processor: Intel Core Ultra 7 or better (Core Ultra Series 3 / X9 recommended)
AMD Equivalent: AMD Ryzen AI 9 400 Series or newer
Snapdragon Equivalent: Snapdragon X2 Elite (optimized for Adobe)
• Memory: 16GB DDR5 RAM (32GB recommended)
• Hard Drive: 512GB NVMe SSD (1TB recommended)
• Warranty/Protection: 3-Year manufacturer protection plan strongly recommended
Windows Laptop Equivalent – 14” High Performance PC
Educational discounts may be available through manufacturers such as Dell, Lenovo, HP, or via student stores.
• Processor: Intel Core Ultra 7 or better (Core Ultra Series 3 / X9 recommended)
AMD Equivalent: AMD Ryzen AI 9 400 Series or newer
Snapdragon Equivalent: Snapdragon X2 Elite
• Memory: 16GB DDR5 RAM (24GB–32GB recommended)
• Hard Drive: 512GB NVMe SSD
• Warranty/Protection: 3-Year manufacturer protection plan strongly recommended
Additional PC considerations:
• Ensure support for DDR5 memory and NVMe SSDs (rather than older standards) to meet performance demands.
For design, video, 3D, AR/VR tasks, a dedicated GPU (e.g., NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 or better) is strongly recommended to handle AI-accelerated rendering.
Graduate
Graduate students enrolling at the College for Creative Studies will be required to own or purchase a laptop computer for their studies. If you have any questions regarding this requirement, please contact your department.
Contact the CCS Helpdesk with questions regarding laptop build requirements.
These are the minimum suggested specs; better/faster/larger/newer is fine as long as supported by applicable application software. Additional information regarding software compatibility.
Apple MacBook Pro
Educational discounts are available at Apple Stores or the Apple Education Store.
- Processor: M1 Pro or Better (8 core recommended for rendering)
- Memory: 32GB unified Memory
- Hard Drive: 512GB SSD storage or better
- AppleCare 3-year protection plan: Highly recommended
Windows PC
- Windows 10 Pro 64-bit OS or Windows 11
- Processor: 64-bit Intel® Xeon, or i-Series processor with Intel® or AMD equivalent. Highest affordable CPU speed with multiple cores recommended (8 core minimum)
- Memory: 32GB of Memory
- Graphic Card: Supported NVIDIA® or AMD graphics card with OpenGL 4.3 support and a certified driver. 8GB Memory minimum.
- Hard Drive: 512GB SSD
- 3-yr protection plan: Highly recommended
Required Software
- Adobe Creative Cloud: Provided through CCS for all registered students
- Microsoft Office: Available for free (Get started with Microsoft Office.)
- Rhino3D: Purchase Rhino3D
- Keyshot: Purchase Keyshot
These are the minimum suggested specs; better/faster/larger/newer is fine as long as supported by applicable application software. Additional information regarding software compatibility.
Apple MacBook Pro
Educational discounts are available at Apple Stores or the Apple Education Store.
- Processor: M1 Pro or Better (8 core recommended for rendering)
- Memory: 32GB unified Memory
- Hard Drive: 512GB SSD storage or better
- AppleCare 3-year protection plan: Highly recommended
Windows PC
- Windows 10 Pro 64-bit OS or Windows 11
- Processor: 64-bit Intel® Xeon, or i-Series processor with Intel® or AMD equivalent. Highest affordable CPU speed with multiple cores recommended (8 core minimum)
- Memory: 32GB of Memory
- Graphic Card: Supported NVIDIA® or AMD graphics card with OpenGL 4.3 support and a certified driver. 8GB Memory minimum.
- Hard Drive: 512GB SSD
- 3-yr protection plan: Highly recommended
Required Software
Please note that only the basic software requirements are listed. As Interdisciplinary Design Studies is a customizable degree, some additional software may be required.
- Adobe Creative Cloud: Provided through CCS for all registered students
- Microsoft Office: Available for free (Get started with Microsoft Office.)
These are the minimum suggested specs; better/faster/larger/newer is fine as long as supported by applicable application software. Additional information regarding software compatibility.
Windows PC
- Windows 10 Pro 64-bit OS or Windows 11
- Processor: 2 GHz 64-bit Intel® Xeon, or i-Series processor with Intel® or AMD equivalent. Highest affordable CPU speed with multiple cores recommended (8 core minimum)
- Memory: minimum of 32GB of Memory
- Graphic Card: Supported NVIDIA® or AMD graphics card with OpenGL 4.3 support and a certified driver. 8GB Memory minimum.
- Hard Drive: 512GB SSD
- 3-yr protection plan: Highly recommended
Recommended Tech
Required Software
- Adobe Creative Cloud: Provided through CCS for all registered students
- Microsoft Office: Available for free (Get started with Microsoft Office.)
- Autodesk Alias: Available for free (Get started with Autodesk Alias.)
- Blender: Available for free (Get started with Blender.)
Recommended Software
- Unreal Engine (Get started with Unreal Engine.)
These are the minimum suggested specs; better/faster/larger/newer is fine as long as supported by applicable application software. Additional information regarding software compatibility.
Apple MacBook Pro
Educational discounts are available at Apple Stores or the Apple Education Store.
- Processor: M1 Pro or Better (8 core recommended for rendering)
- Memory: minimum 32GB unified Memory
- Hard Drive: minimum 512GB SSD storage or better
- AppleCare 3-year protection plan: Highly recommended
Windows PC
- Windows 10 Pro 64-bit OS or Windows 11
- Processor: 64-bit Intel® Xeon, or i-Series processor with Intel® or AMD equivalent. Highest affordable CPU speed with multiple cores recommended, 8 core minimum
- Memory: 32GB of Memory
- Graphic Card: Supported NVIDIA® or AMD graphics card with OpenGL 4.3 support and a certified driver. 8GB Memory minimum.
- Hard Drive: minimum 512GB SSD
- 3-yr protection plan: Highly recommended
Required Software
- Adobe Creative Cloud: Provided through CCS for all registered students
- Microsoft Office: Available for free (Get started with Microsoft Office.)