# Student Laptop Requirements

All enrolled students are required to have a laptop. This page has information about what to look for when purchasing a laptop or bringing your current one to campus.

## Purchasing

<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Our campus Helpdesk supports connection to the internet for </span>**Windows and Mac laptops**.

<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">We strongly recommend that all incoming students purchasing new laptops select a leading brand name computer, such as Dell, Apple, HP, Lenovo, Sony, etc. This will ensure that your laptop can connect to our campus network, and that our Helpdesk can provide you with technical support. </span>

<p class="callout info"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">BAC Students can purchase Dell devices at a solid discount here: </span>[Dell Laptop Student Discounts](https://www.dell.com/en-us/lp/students)<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p>

<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">If you choose to purchase an off-brand laptop, the Helpdesk cannot guarantee network access or technical support. Laptops matching the suggested specifications below are likely to operate well on our network. </span>

Tablets, Chromebooks, and other similar devices are not substitutes for a laptop unless they run a full Windows operating system (not Windows RT). Without this, they do not have the necessary features required by Bryn Athyn College.

## Requirements

### Minimum Device Specifications

#### Windows

- Windows 11
- At least one browser updated to latest version such as Edge, Chrome, or Firefox
- At least 8GB RAM

#### Mac

- MacBook, MacBook Pro, or MacBook Air
- One of the three most recent versions of macOS
    - <span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">See the Apple support page to find </span>[the latest version of macOS](https://support.apple.com/en-us/109033#:~:text=to%20see%20it.-,Which%20versions%20of%20macOS%20are%20the%20latest%3F,-These%20are%20the)
- At least one browser updated to latest version such as Edge, Chrome, or Firefox
- At least 8GB RAM

### Software

#### Microsoft 365

<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Students are required to have the Microsoft 365 apps on their laptops. All students are supplied with a license for Microsoft 365 via their Bryn Athyn College Microsoft Account. </span>

<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">See </span>[Installing Microsoft 365](https://helpdesk.brynathyn.edu/books/software/page/installing-microsoft-365 "Installing Microsoft 365")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> for instructions. </span>

#### Antivirus

Students are required to have antivirus protection installed on their laptops. All students are encouraged to utilize Windows Defender that is available by default on all Windows machines.

<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">See </span>[Setting up Antivirus](https://helpdesk.brynathyn.edu/books/software/page/setting-up-antivirus "Setting up Antivirus")<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> for more information.</span>