Minimum Technical Specifications for Devices

Students in the Education Preparation programs must have a mobile device. This device cannot be a phone. Their device can be any of the following:

• Apple iPad
• Apple MacBook
• PC Laptop
• PC Tablet
• Chromebook

The minimum specifications for each type of device are listed below:

Advisory as of December 2, 2020:
Device prices are currently inflated due to abnormal demand caused by the COVID-19 pandemic response. In the cases of some PC laptops and Chromebooks, their prices may currently be multiple hundreds of dollars higher than normal. It is recommended to postpone purchasing a new device if possible, as prices will eventually return to normal.

iPad

• 6th Generation (mid-2018) or later
• 32GB or more

Recommendation: 10.2" iPad, 32GB
$329, or $309 with education pricing (as of April 3, 2020)

 

MacBook

• Comes with MacOS Mojave or MacOS Catalina when new
• Intel Core i5 or higher processor (Core i7 or Core i9)*
• 8GB or more RAM
• 256GB or more storage

Recommendation: MacBook Air
Compliant version starts at $1,299, or $1,199 with education pricing (as of April 3, 2020)

*MacBooks with Apple's new M1 processor are still being evaluated for compatibility at this time and are not yet recommended.

 

Chromebook*

• Front and/or rear-facing camera
• 10 hours or longer battery life
• 32GB or more storage
• 4GB or more RAM
• WiFi

Recommendation 1: Acer Chromebook 11 with Celeron N3350
$323 (as of December 2, 2020)

Recommendation 2: HP Chromebook 15
$799.99 (as of December 2, 2020)

Benefits of Recommendation 2:

• Faster processor

*Southeast Missouri State University recommends that Chromebooks not be used as a main or sole computer system because of their limitations.

 

PC Laptop or Tablet

• Comes with Windows 10 or higher when new
• Intel Core i5 or higher processor (Core i7 or Core i9)
• 8GB or more RAM
• 256GB or more solid-state storage (SSD, not HDD)
• Built-in or external front and/or rear-facing camera
• 9 hours or longer battery life
• WiFi

Recommendation 1: HP Envy-13t
$649.99 (as of December 2, 2020)

Recommendation 2: Lenovo Yoga C940 15"
$1,429.99 (as of December 2, 2020)

Benefits of Recommendation 2:

• 2-in-1 tablet PC form factor
• More RAM
• Dedicated graphics processor
• Drawing/writing stylus

Recommendation 3: Microsoft Surface Pro 7
Compliant version starts at $899.99 (as of December 2, 2020). Student pricing may be available.

 

The recommendations on this page are only recommendations for devices that are compliant with the minimum specifications of the program. Students are free to select devices not mentioned in these recommendations as long as their device meets the specifications outlined here.