As mentioned, all Engineering students are required to have a laptop for their academic studies. No specific vendor or model is required, but we recommend that your laptop meet or exceed the following minimum specifications.
NOTE concerning Apple Computers: Except for Computer Science majors, we are not recommending M-series based (i.e., Apple silicon) MacBooks for engineering students. The M-series based MacBooks, even when running the ARM version of Windows, can still encounter incompatibilities with some software used in Engineering’s curriculum that was written for Intel-processors.
(1) Intel Core i9 and Core Ultra 9 processors are not required for your studies; however, there are no issues in using a system with one of these processors if you want to purchase one.(2) See section on memory below. 8GB would be a minimum, and only when then in a system that could be upgraded after purchase.(3) If your system only has USB-C ports, you will need to purchase an inexpensive USB hub with USB-A ports. Several vendors offer these including Amazon, BestBuy, Walmart, etc.
To make choosing a Windows laptop easier, we have worked with Dell to configure systems that will meet the about recommendations. These can be viewed on our Dell discount site. Please check the Exclusive Discounts for Student section on this page.
Visit the University of Kentucky's Apple Educational Store to view discounted Apple products.
Some newer laptops may only have USB-C or Thunderbolt ports. For these laptops, you will need to purchase an inexpensive USB-C to USB-A converter or hub. These are available from a number of suppliers (Amazon.com, Best Buy, Walmart, etc.).
Chromebooks and tablets cannot serve as your primary device because they do not have the functionality you will need. Devices in this category would include iPads, Android tablets, Windows RT-based systems, and Microsoft Surface Pro X devices and laptops.
Laptops can be divided into those with onboard graphics and those with enhanced or discrete graphics. Laptops with only Intel Iris, UHD, FHD, or ARC (imbedded) graphics would fall under the first group. If you are a non-CS Engineering major, we would recommend a laptop from the second group that has enhanced or discrete graphics (e.g., nVidia Quadro or GeForce GTX or RTX, AMD Fire Pro, Radeon Pro, Vega, or Radeon RX, etc. graphics cards or chip sets).
It is recommended that you choose a laptop that has or can be upgraded to 16GB RAM. If you intend to purchase a system with less than 16GB RAM to start with, check with the vendor or sales representative to see if it can be upgraded after purchase.
All University of Kentucky students receive a Microsoft 365 account which includes Microsoft Office 365 applications (Word, Excel, Power Point, etc.) and 1TB of OneDrive cloud storage. Students also have access to Google Workspace which includes a small amount of Google Drive storage. These services reduce your local storage needs by allowing you to off-load older files and makes it easier to share files between different devices.
You may want to consider purchasing a two or three-year warranty with your system, though you should balance the length of the warranty against replacement or repair cost of the computer as it gets older. You may also want to investigate accidental damage coverage. This type of warranty add-on usually covers damage to a laptop’s display, as well as damage from drops and spills.
Either Windows 10 or 11 is acceptable. While the preference is for Windows Professional (or Education) edition, since a small number of software packages in upper-level courses require it, most Engineering students will only need Windows Home. If needed, Windows Education is available as an upgrade through the College’s AzureDev subscription.
RUNNING WINDOWS ON OLDER INTEL-BASED MACS: To run Windows on Intel-based MacBook Pros, you will need to use Boot Camp or one of the virtual machine environments available for the Mac (Parallels, VirtualBox (free), or VMWare Fusion). Since Macs don’t come with Windows, you would need to purchase a copy for use on the Mac.
