Current recommendations from the Office of Information Technology for employees who are shopping for a personal/home computer are listed below.
*Note: This is not for University purchases, but a helpful guide for employees who want to buy a home PC for their own use and need advice.
If you are a student looking for similar information, please see the recommendations provided by your academic college. These recommendations can be found this Knowledge Base Article.
We recommend a 15” laptop if no external monitors are being used and have listed three options based upon budget and desired computing power.
PC Recommendations
Budget Model:
- 15” laptop
- Windows 11 Professional
- Intel Core Ultra 5 processor or AMD Ryzen 5
- 16 GB RAM
- 256 GB solid state hard drive
- Bluetooth, wireless 802.11ac
- TPM chip to support hard drive encryption
- Web cam with built in microphone
- 3 year warranty with accidental damage protection.
Mainstream Model:
- 15” business class laptop (Dell Latitude, Lenovo ThinkPad)
- Windows 11 Professional
- Intel Core Ultra 5 or 7 processor, or AMD Ryzen 5 PRO
- 16 GB RAM
- 512 GB Solid State hard drive
- Bluetooth, Wireless 802.11 ac
- Back lit keyboard
- TPM chip to support hard drive encryption
- Web cam with built in microphone
- 4 year warranty with accidental damage protection
High Performance Model:
- 15” business class laptop (Dell Latitude, Lenovo ThinkPad)
- Windows 11 Professional
- Intel Core Ultra 7 or 9 processor, or AMD Ryzen 5 or 7 PRO
- 32 GB RAM
- 512 GB or 1 TB Solid State hard drive
- Bluetooth, wireless 802.11ac
- Add in Graphics card
- Back lit keyboard
- TPM chip to support hard drive encryption
- Web cam with built in microphone
- 4 year warranty with accidental damage protection
Mac Recommendations
Budget Model - 13-inch MacBook Air:
- 13.6-inch Liquid Retina display with True Tone
- M4 processor
- 10-core CPU
- 10-core GPU
- 16-core Neural Engine
- 12MP Center Stage camera
- MagSafe 3 charging port
- Two Thunderbolt 4 ports
- Support for up to two external displays
- Magic Keyboard with Touch ID
- Force Touch trackpad
- 35W Dual USB-C Port Compact Power Adapter
Mainstream Model - 14-inch MacBook Pro:
- 14-inch Liquid Retina XDR display
- M4 chip
- 10-Core CPU
- 10-Core GPU
- 16GB Unified Memory
- 1TB SSD Storage
- 16-core Neural Engine
- Three Thunderbolt 4 ports, HDMI port, SDXC card slot, headphone jack, MagSafe 3 port
- Magic Keyboard with Touch ID
- Force Touch trackpad
- 70W USB-C Power Adapter
High Performance Model - 16-inch MacBook Pro:
-
- 16-inch Liquid Retina XDR display
- M4 Max chip
- 14-Core CPU
- 20-Core GPU
- 48GB Unified Memory
- 512GB SSD Storage
- 16-core Neural Engine
- Three Thunderbolt 5 ports, HDMI port, SDXC card slot, headphone jack, MagSafe 3 port
- Magic Keyboard with Touch ID
- Force Touch trackpad
- 140W USB-C Power Adapter