Effective Fall 2020, all students pursuing a degree offered by the University of Alabama College of Engineering are required to have a laptop which meets or exceeds the minimum specifications below.

2024 – 2025 LAPTOP SPECIFICATIONS

  • It is highly recommended that students in any of the engineering degree programs have a Windows-based laptop. Computer Science and Cyber Security students are excluded from this recommendation and can use either a Windows or Mac laptop.
  • Many engineering software packages only run on Microsoft Windows
  • Students who opt for a Mac are responsible for installing and maintaining Windows Operating System if Windows-based software is required for any classes
  • The College of Engineering cannot provide technical support for installing or troubleshooting Windows on a Mac laptop

MICROSOFT WINDOWS LAPTOPS

MINIMUM HARDWARE AND OS SPECIFICATIONS
Item Type Specification Needed
PROCESSOR Intel Core i5 processor or AMD equivalent (i7 recommended)
MEMORY 16 GB RAM
STORAGE 500 GB solid-state drive (1 TB is recommended)
VIDEO 1920 x 1080 resolution with minimum screen size of 13 in. (15 in recommended)
GPU A separate video card is recommended for better performance
OPERATING SYSTEM Microsoft Windows 10 or 11

APPLE MACINTOSH LAPTOPS

MINIMUM HARDWARE AND OS SPECIFICATIONS
Item Type Specification Needed
PROCESSOR Intel Core i5 or ARM equivalent (i7 recommended)
MEMORY 16 GB RAM
STORAGE 500 GB solid-state drive (1 TB is recommended)
VIDEO 1920 x 1080 resolution with minimum screen size of 13 in. (15 in recommended)
OPERATING SYSTEM macOS 12.2 (Monterey) or later is recommended
Note: M1/M2 MacBooks require Parallels or VMware Fusion to run Windows. This software is not provided nor supported by UA. Students using MacBooks will be responsible for installing Windows on their Macs if they need Windows-based software.

SOFTWARE

ALL UA COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING STUDENTS ARE ABLE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOLLOWING SOFTWARE AND USE IT FREE OF CHARGE AS LONG AS THEY ARE ENROLLED:
*indicates software that will not run natively on Mac operating systems
For additional information please email: support@eng.ua.edu