General Laptop Recommendations
The following recommendations are for departments at CCS that do not currently have a specific requirement for laptops. Before purchasing a laptop, we recommend contacting your department to confirm your choice.
Email questions regarding laptop build requirements should be directed to the CCS Helpdesk at helpdesk@collegeforcreativestudies.edu
Below are minimum suggested specs; better/faster/larger/newer is fine as long as supported by applicable application software. Information regarding software compatibility is available here: https://campus.collegeforcreativestudies.edu/its/software-requirements/
Apple MacBook Pro
Educational discount available at Apple Stores or the Apple online educational store (https://www.apple.com/us-hed/shop).
- Processor: 2.6GHz 6-core 9th-generation Intel Core i7 processor, Turbo Boost up to 4.5Ghz
- Memory: 32GB 2666MHz DDR4 memory
- Graphic Card: Radeon Pro 5500M with 8GB of GDDR6 memory
- Hard Drive: 512GB SSD storage
- AppleCare 3-year protection plan: Highly recommended
Windows PC
- Windows 10 Pro 64-bit OS
- 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 4.3 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 at:
Advertising Design and Communication Design
Advertising Design and Communication Design students enrolling at The College for Creative Studies will be required to own or purchase a laptop computer for their studies. The information below provides the recommended minimum hardware configuration and software requirements. If you have any questions regarding this requirement, please contact your Department Chair.
Email questions regarding laptop build requirements should be directed to the CCS Helpdesk at helpdesk@collegeforcreativestudies.edu
Below are minimum suggested specs; better/faster/larger/newer is fine as long as supported by applicable application software. Information regarding software compatibility is available here: https://campus.collegeforcreativestudies.edu/its/software-requirements;
Apple MacBook Pro 13”
Educational discount available at Apple Stores or the Apple online educational store (https://www.apple.com/us-hed/shop/buy-mac/macbook-pro/13-inch).
- Processor: 2.3GHz quad-core 10th-generation Intel Core i7 processor, Turbo Boost up to 4.1Ghz
- Memory: 32GB 3733MHz LPDDR4X memory
- Graphic Card: Intel Iris Plus Graphics
- Hard Drive: 512GB SSD storageAppleCare 3-year protection plan: Highly recommended
Apple MacBook Pro 16”
Educational discount available at Apple Stores or the Apple online educational store (https://www.apple.com/us-hed/shop/buy-mac/macbook-pro/16-inch).
Processor: 2.6GHz 6-core 9th-generation Intel Core i7 processor, Turbo Boost up to 4.5Ghz
- Memory: 32GB 2666MHz DDR4 memory
- Graphic Card: Radeon Pro 5500M with 8GB of GDDR6 memory
- Hard Drive: 512GB SSD storage
- AppleCare 3-year protection plan: Highly recommended
Required Software:
- Adobe Creative Cloud: Provided through CCS for all registered students
- Microsoft Office: Available for free at: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/education/products/office
MFA Color & Materials Design
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.
Email questions regarding laptop build requirements should be directed to the CCS Helpdesk at helpdesk@collegeforcreativestudies.edu
Below are minimum suggested specs; better/faster/larger/newer is fine as long as supported by applicable application software. Information regarding software compatibility is available here: https://campus.collegeforcreativestudies.edu/its/software-requirements/
Apple MacBook Pro
Educational discount available at Apple Stores or the Apple online educational store (https://www.apple.com/us-hed/shop).
- Processor: 2.6GHz 6-core 9th-generation Intel Core i7 processor, Turbo Boost up to 4.5Ghz
- Memory: 32GB 2666MHz DDR4 memory
- Graphic Card: Radeon Pro 5500M with 8GB of GDDR6 memory
- Hard Drive: 512GB SSD storage
- AppleCare 3-year protection plan: Highly recommended
Windows PC
- Windows 10 Pro 64-bit OS
- 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 4.3 support and a certified driver. 8GB Memory minimum.
- Hard Drive: 512GB SSD3-yr protection plan: Highly recommended
Required Software:
- Adobe Creative Cloud: Provided through CCS for all registered students
- Microsoft Office: Available for free at: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/education/products/office
- Rhino3D: To purchase go to: https://www.rhino3d.com/edu
- Keyshot: To purchase got to: https://buy.keyshot.com/collection/keyshot-education
MFA Integrated Design
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.
Email questions regarding laptop build requirements should be directed to the CCS Helpdesk at helpdesk@collegeforcreativestudies.edu
Below are minimum suggested specs; better/faster/larger/newer is fine as long as supported by applicable application software. Information regarding software compatibility is available here: https://campus.collegeforcreativestudies.edu/its/software-requirements;
Apple MacBook Pro
Educational discount available at Apple Stores or the Apple online educational store (https://www.apple.com/us-hed/shop).
- Processor: 2.6GHz 6-core 9th-generation Intel Core i7 processor, Turbo Boost up to 4.5Ghz
- Memory: 32GB 2666MHz DDR4 memory
- Graphic Card: Radeon Pro 5500M with 8GB of GDDR6 memory
- Hard Drive: 512GB SSD storage AppleCare 3-year protection plan: Highly recommended
Windows PC
- Windows 10 Pro 64-bit OS
- 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 4.3 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 at: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/education/products/office
- Rhino (optional): To purchase go to: https://www.rhino3d.com/edu
MFA Interaction Design
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.
Email questions regarding laptop build requirements should be directed to the CCS Helpdesk at helpdesk@collegeforcreativestudies.edu
Below are minimum suggested specs; better/faster/larger/newer is fine as long as supported by applicable application software. Information regarding software compatibility is available here: https://campus.collegeforcreativestudies.edu/its/software-requirements;
Apple MacBook Pro
Educational discount available at Apple Stores or the Apple online educational store (https://www.apple.com/us-hed/shop).
- Processor: 2.6GHz 6-core 9th-generation Intel Core i7 processor, Turbo Boost up to 4.5Ghz
- Memory: 32GB 2666MHz DDR4 memory
- Graphic Card: Radeon Pro 5500M with 8GB of GDDR6 memory
- Hard Drive: 512GB SSD storage
- AppleCare 3-year protection plan: Highly recommended
Windows PC
- Windows 10 Pro 64-bit OS
- 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 4.3 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 at: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/education/products/office
MFA Transportation Design
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.
Email questions regarding laptop build requirements should be directed to the CCS Helpdesk at helpdesk@collegeforcreativestudies.edu
Below are minimum suggested specs; better/faster/larger/newer is fine as long as supported by applicable application software. Information regarding software compatibility is available here: https://campus.collegeforcreativestudies.edu/its/software-requirements;
Windows PC
- Windows 10 Pro 64-bit OS
- Processor: 2 GHz 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 a minimum of 256 MB dedicated texture memory, DirectX 11 compatible and 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 at: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/education/products/office
- Autodesk Alias: Available for free at: https://www.autodesk.com/education/free-software/featured
- Zbrush: To purchase go to: https://store.pixologic.com/zbrush-academic-license.html
Recommended Software:
Keyshot: To purchase go to: https://buy.keyshot.com/collections/keyshot-education
Blender: Available for free at: https://www.blender.org/download/
- Recommended: Wacom Intuos Pro Tablet – Small or Medium https://estore.wacom.com/en-US/tablets.html
MFA Systems Design Thinking
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.
Email questions regarding laptop build requirements should be directed to the CCS Helpdesk at helpdesk@collegeforcreativestudies.edu
Below are minimum suggested specs; better/faster/larger/newer is fine as long as supported by applicable application software. Information regarding software compatibility is available here: https://campus.collegeforcreativestudies.edu/its/software-requirements/
Apple MacBook Pro
Educational discount available at Apple Stores or the Apple online educational store (https://www.apple.com/us-hed/shop).
- Processor: 2.6GHz 6-core 9th-generation Intel Core i7 processor, Turbo Boost up to 4.5Ghz
- Memory: 32GB 2666MHz DDR4 memory
- Graphic Card: Radeon Pro 5500M with 8GB of GDDR6 memory Hard Drive: 512GB SSD storage
- AppleCare 3-year protection plan: Highly recommended
Windows PC
- Windows 10 Pro 64-bit OS
- 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 4.3 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 at:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/education/products/office
Rhino (optional): To purchase go to: