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Those areas on the 3 year hardware renewal cycle should consult MIT IS&T's recommended computer hardware for the list of acceptable desktop and laptop machines. For users that require Adobe Creative Suite or for users doing video and/ or photo editing and/or web development, the minimum RAM must be no lower than DDR3 16GB and the processor must be no lower than an i7 processormost users, the recommended spec across the board is a minimum memory configuration of 16GB with an M1 processor. For users who need to use Adobe apps, an M1 Pro processor may be considered.
4-5 year cycle
For those areas on a 4-5 year hardware renewal schedule and not the usual 3 year, please be aware that you must purchase a mid to high end model machine to ensure the computer has enough power and resource to run newer software at a minimally acceptable performance level 4-5 years down the line. Minimum RAM memory specifications must be no lower than DDR3 8GB 16GB and the processor must be no lower than an i5 running at 2.9GhzM1 Pro. For users that require Adobe Creative Suite or for users doing video or photo editing or web development that takes up at least a quarter of their time, the minimum RAM must memory should not be no lower than DDR3 16GB 32GB and the processor must be no lower than an i7 processorM1 Pro. For users who will be using their machines for video or multimedia development more than half the time, either the higher end M1 Pro, M1 Max or the M2 processors may be worth consideration. We will update these requirements annually as the computer technologies advance.
If you are thinking Dell, do not purchase any machines outside of the Latitude, Optiplex, or Precision lines. Dell drops available spare parts for all other models once the maximum warranty period has expired. Of particular note Inspiron notebook spare parts are not available 1 year after they're sold once their warranty expires. Once these laptops die, there is no way to repair them if someone doesn't already have the spare parts.
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