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Communication Design & Strategy students enrolling at the ����ר�� 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 ����ר��. 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.

Apple MacBook Pro 16”

Educational discount available at Apple Stores or the .

1. Processor: M3 Pro or Better (M5 recommended)
2. Memory: 16GB unified Memory (24GB recommended)
3. Hard Drive: 512GB SSD storage
4. AppleCare 3-year protection plan: Strongly recommended

Apple MacBook Pro 14”

Educational discount available at Apple Stores or the .

1. Processor: M3 Pro or Better (M5 recommended)
2. Memory: 16GB unified Memory (24GB recommended)
3. Hard Drive: 512GB SSD storage
4. AppleCare 3-year protection plan: Strongly recommended

Apple MacBook Air 15”

Educational discount available at Apple Stores or the .

1. Processor: M4 or Better
2. Memory: 16GB unified Memory (24GB recommended)
3. Hard Drive: 512GB SSD storage
4. AppleCare 3-year protection plan: Strongly recommended

Required Software

1. Adobe Creative Cloud: Provided through ����ר�� for all registered students
2. Microsoft Office: Available for free ()

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.

Apple MacBook Pro

Educational discounts are available at Apple Stores or the .

• 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 ����ר�� for all registered students
• Microsoft Office: Available for free ()

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

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Required Software

• Adobe Creative Cloud: Provided through ����ר�� for all registered students
• Microsoft Office: Available for free ()
• Autodesk Alias: Available for free ()
• Blender: Available for free ()

Recommended Software

• Unreal Engine ()

Apple MacBook Pro

Educational discounts are available at Apple Stores or the .

• 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 ����ר�� for all registered students
• Microsoft Office: Available for free ()