Revised– May 2025

Starting fall 2021, all DS students will need a laptop that can run the software required by their classes.

• Interior Architecture (IA) students cannot use any Mac product because Revit is not compatible with the MacOS operating system. IA students are required to purchase a Windows laptop with a video card (RTX 4060 or Radeon RX7700S minimum), and 16GB RAM.

• Textiles & Fashion Design (TFD) students may use a Mac or Windows laptop. A Windows laptop must have a video card, a newer Macbook with an M1 processor is recommended.

• The School of Human Ecology may provide need-based financial assistance to purchase school supplies for students who can demonstrate need. Email Assistant Dean, Patrick Jackson, Patrick.Jackson@wisc.edu for additional information and requests.

Choosing a computer that works with IA software:

• If you are enrolled in the IA program you must choose a Windows laptop, because you will not be able to run Revit on any Mac computer which is required for your courses.
• You will also need to make sure you choose a Windows laptop with a sufficiently powerful video card (also known as a GPU). While there are budget-oriented options for GPUs, more expensive/powerful GPUs will perform better and render faster in our IA applications.
• We are recommending students get laptops with at least RTX 4060 GPUs or Radeon RX7700S GPUs.  Starting in 2023, students will also need at least 16GB of RAM as well, with 32GB of RAM recommended.
• If you are unsure if your computer has the proper GPU, feel free to send us an email bits@sohe.wisc.edu

Laptop Recommendations _for IA

Students entering the IA program for fall 2025 will need a laptop with the following specifications:

OS: Windows

CPU: Intel/AMD Processor scoring a single thread CPUMark of 3,000 or higher. (AMD Ryzen 9 preferred, or Intel 14th Gen i9)

RAM: 32GB minimum

SSD capacity: 1TB

GPU: RTX 4060 minimum, RTX 4070 recommended

Macbooks are not supported as we cannot ensure the stability of plugins used with our software. Any laptop matching the specifications above would be a good fit, but we recommend these two laptops in particular:

ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 14” OLED - $1999 at Best Buy

Lenovo Legion Pro 5i 16” Gaming Laptop WQXGA - $1899 at Best Buy

You may be able to find a better price at other vendors but be sure that you are purchasing the correct model with specs. If you have any questions on whether a laptop is sufficient, you can reach out to our IT helpdesk at bits@sohe.wisc.edu and one of our team members would be happy to chat with you.

Choosing a computer that works with TFD software:

Either a Macbook or Windows laptop will work if you are enrolled in the TFD program. If you prefer a Windows laptop then you must make sure it has a graphics card from Nvidia or Radeon (AMD). If choosing a Macbook, we recommend a model with the M1 processor or newer. I would recommend the following Macs: 

• • Recommended: Macbook Air 13" with M3 ($1099 with education discount)
  • Also available: Macbook Air 13" with M2 ($999 with education discount)

_{Pretty much any of the new Macbook line (M1 or greater) would be sufficient for TFD, as well as any of the Windows laptops in the IA list (however, they do not need to be as powerful as the IA laptops). If you have questions regarding if a specific laptop and whether it is appropriate for TFD, please reach out to us at bits@sohe.wisc.edu .}

Ask us if you have any questions about computer hardware or vetting for specific laptops! Contact: BITS@sohe.wisc.edu