Students at UConn are required to have a portable computer that meets the technical specifications needed for computing and accessing University resources. Students are free to choose any portable computer from any vendor that fits their needs in line with these specifications, but they may also choose to refer to this list of devices that meet our requirements for computing.
Why were these devices selected?
These devices meet or exceed the technical specification requirements.
UConn staff and faculty are issued Dell laptops with the ProSupport Plus warranty, and Apple laptops with the AppleCare+ warranty. We find that with daily intensive usage, they tend to last the standard 5-year lifecycle goal that we set for our devices. The UConn Bookstore provides in-warranty support for Dell and Apple devices, which allows for quick and cost-effective repairs.
Though students are not bound by staff/faculty purchasing guidelines, we recommend considering them for the availability of support and tested reliability.
Device manufacturers often release hardware revisions for their laptops. If there is a newer model available than what is listed here, consider purchasing that version.
Meets minimum specifications
Dell XPS 13
Operating system: Windows 11 Home
Processor: Intel Core i5-1230U
RAM: 8GB LPDDR5
Storage: 256 GB
Apple MacBook Air 13in
Operating system: macOS 14 Sonoma
Processor: Apple M2 (8-core CPU, 8-core GPU)
RAM: 8GB
Storage: 256 GB
Meets recommended specifications
Dell XPS 13
Operating system: Windows 11 Home
Processor: Intel Core i7-1250U
RAM: 16GB LPDDR5
Storage: 512 GB
Apple MacBook Air 13in
Operating system: macOS 14 Sonoma
Processor: Apple M2 (8-core CPU, 10-core GPU)
RAM: 16GB
Storage: 512 GB
For heavier usage
Dell XPS 15
Operating system: Windows 11 Home
Processor: Intel Core i7-13700H
RAM: 32GB
Storage: 1 TB
Apple MacBook Pro 14in
Operating system: macOS 14 Sonoma
Processor: Apple M3 Pro (11-core CPU, 14-core GPU)
RAM: 32GB
Storage: 1TB