Laptop Requirement

Recommended hardware specifications

Many of our faculty and students purchase a 16-inch Apple MacBook Pro, which is the industry standard for creative professionals. However, all commercially available computing platforms with the following specifications are acceptable.

  • Processor: Multi-core Intel® Processor with 64-bit support
  • RAM: 16GB (recommended)
  • Operating System: Mac OS X, version 10.14 or higher
  • Display: 16-inch, 1280x800 (1280x1024 recommended) with 16-bit color and 512MB of VRAM (2GB recommended)

  • Processor: Intel® Core 2 or AMD Athlon® 64 processor; 2 GHz or faster
  • RAM: 16GB (recommended)
  • Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10, version 1803 or higher
  • Display: 15-inch, 1280x800 (1280x1024 recommended) with 16-bit color and 512MB of VRAM (2GB recommended)

Purchasing a laptop with financial aid

If you qualify for financial aid, you may be able to apply aid to the purchase of a laptop computer. Contact the Office of Student Financial Services during regular office house at 317-274-4162 or finaid@iupui.edu to learn more.

Get tech support through UITS

UITS offers phone, live chat, email, and face-to-face IT support via the Support Center 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Call 317-274-4357, chat online, or email UITS at ithelp@iu.edu.

For walk-in hours and locations, visit the Knowledge Base.

Understanding our tech support policy

Support is available through UITS but it is the student's responsibility to maintain their laptop in good working order for use in the classroom. Any damage and associated repairs, loss, or operating problems that may occur are the sole responsibility of the student. Students must have their laptop repaired as needed at their own expense or secure another unit meeting minimum hardware and software requirements on which they can work.

Late work, lost data, and other such problems due to any incident associated with a student's laptop will not be accepted by instructors. Students are advised to backup their digital files in multiple formats so all data can easily be transferred to another computer if needed.

Students are also advised to purchase laptops only from reputable vendors with good warranty programs and a proven record of quality service. We also recommend that students strongly consider purchasing extended warranty and service plans, such as AppleCare.