Macintosh Laptop Hardware
General Recommendations
The following guidelines were developed for typical office use. In most cases, this includes word processing, spreadsheets, e-mail, and Web browsing. If your needs go beyond that, you may need a more powerful system.
Computing technology changes a lot, and ITS makes every effort to keep these recommendations up to date. Check back often for the latest information.
These recommendations are for new computers only — please call us for advice before upgrading an existing machine. ITS generally advises that an office computer be replaced after 3 to 5 years of service. With the cost of new equipment constantly declining, upgrades are generally not cost-effective after a machine becomes four or five years old.
Recommended Configurations
| Level of System | Low-cost system | Recommended system | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Picture |
Image may not match configuration below. |
Image may not match configuration below. |
|
| Purpose | For general-purpose mobile office tasks involving electronic mail, Web access, Microsoft Office, calendaring, Oracle Applications, presentations, and other basic tasks where expandability is not an issue but absolute portability is | For those needing a larger LCD screen, higher performance, or more expandability | |
| Model | Intel MacBook 13 inch | Intel MacBook Pro 17 inch | |
| Processor | 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo | 2.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo | |
| Memory (RAM) | 2 GB, no slots remain available, supports up to 2 GB total. | 2 MB, no slot remains available, supports up to 3 GB total | |
| Disk drives |
80 GB Serial ATA hard disk at 5400 rpm
Combination DVD-ROM / CD-RW optical drive (reads and writes CDs, reads DVDs) |
160 GB Serial ATA hard disk at 5400 rpm
Superdrive DVD-RW / CD-RW optical drive (reads and writes both CDs and DVDs) |
|
| Ports, slots, and expansion |
Two USB 2.0 ports (480 Mbps)
One FireWire 400 port (400 Mbps) |
Three USB 2.0 ports (480 Mbps)
One FireWire 400 port (400 Mbps) One FireWire 800 port (800 Mbps) ExpressCard/34 slot |
|
| Video and display |
Intel GMA 950 graphics processor with 64MB of DDR2 SDRAM shared with
main memory
13.3-inch (diagonal) glossy widescreen TFT display with support for millions of colors. Supports extended desktop and video mirroring (explained here) through mini-DVI (or full DVI/VGA with extra adapter ($17) Supported resolutions: 1280 by 800 (native), 1152 by 720, 1024 by 768, 1024 by 640, 800 by 600, 800 by 500, 720 by 480, and 640 by 480 at 16:10 aspect ratio; 1024 by 768, 800 by 600, and 640 by 480 pixels at 4:3 aspect ratio; 720 by 480 at 3:2 aspect ratio |
ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 graphics processor, dual -ink DVI support,
256MB of GDDR3 SDRAM.
17-inch (diagonal) TFT display, support for millions of colors; optional glossy widescreen display with external desktop video mirroring and spanning support (for DVI-I displays, or VGA displays with included adapter, explained here) Supported resolutions: 1680 by 1050 (native), 1280 by 800, 1152 by 720, 1024 by 640, and 800 by 500 at 16:10 aspect ratio; 1280 by 1024 at 5:4 aspect ratio; 1280 by 1024 at 5:4 aspect ratio stretched; 1024 by 768, 800 by 600, and 640 by 480 at 4:3 aspect ratio; 1024 by 768, 800 by 600, and 640 by 480 at 4:3 aspect ratio stretched; 720 by 480 at 3:2 aspect ratio; 720 by 480 at 3:2 aspect ratio stretched |
|
| Network |
Built-in 10/100/1000BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet (RJ-45 connector)
Built-in AirPort Extreme Wireless (based on IEEE 802.11n draft specification) Integrated wireless networking antennas Built-in Bluetooth 2.0 + Enhanced Data Rate (EDR) Optional external Apple USB Modem |
Built-in 10/100/1000BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet (RJ-45 connector)
Built-in 54-Mbps AirPort Extreme Wireless (802.11g standard; 802.11n capable with optional 802.11n enabler) Integrated wireless networking antennas Built-in Bluetooth 2.0 + Enhanced Data Rate (EDR) Optional external Apple USB Modem |
|
| Peripherals |
Built-in full-size keyboard with F1-12, arrow keys, and embedded numeric
keypad.
USB optical mouse optional Built-in speakers Built-in omnidirectional microphone Built-in iSight External stereo speakers are optional |
||
| Software |
Ships with Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, and may provide other bundled software from Apple. The bundled Apple software does not imply support from ITS. Other software, including Microsoft Office, available as per the ITS Software Licensing and Volume Purchasing page, or at an academic discount through the RIT Campus Connections bookstore. Faculty and staff systems can be imaged with RIT standard disk image when the computer arrives on campus for the fastest available setup and installation. This service may not be available initially when major new versions of Mac OS X are introduced. Faculty and staff systems must comply with the security standards available from the RIT Information Security Office. Please make arrangements for setup service through the ITS Service Desk. |
||
| Warranty |
Extended
AppleCare warranty optional but recommended for critical desktop systems
and all laptops (adds two years of coverage for three total);
auto-enrollment available for institutional purchases (requires no additional paperwork) |
||
| Purchase |
Apple Store for Education or RIT Campus Connections bookstore |
||
Quick reference
The following key may help you with terms used in these charts.
- Ethernet: makes it possible to connect directly to the campus network
- AirPort and AirPort Extreme: Apple's brand name for wireless 802.11b and 802.11g networking, respectively, which is ready to use with RIT's 802.11b wireless campus network
- GB: gigabyte or 1 billion bytes
- Hard disk: a magnetic disk on which you can store computer data.
- MB: megabyte or 1 million bytes
- OS: operating system. The master set of programs responsible for overseeing the basic hardware resources of a computer such as disks, memory, keyboard, screen, and CPU time.
- RAM: random access memory. The working memory of the computer into which application programs can be loaded and executed
