Digital Tool Requirements

Tech Essentials for Design Success

The Design & Illustration Department at Tyler School of Art and Architecture  is committed to excellence in design and the full integration of technologies within our discipline to best educate and prepare our students to become leaders in this field. A thorough understanding of the changing nature of design and the integral role that technology plays in it, is essential for all our design students. 

In order for our students to be active participants in this ever-changing environment we recommend a current model Apple MacBook Pro laptop. 

Two students sitting on a couch with their laptops open, talking to eachother.

Hardware: 

These are our minimum laptop requirements:

We recommend getting AppleCare+ with your system. 

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  • Apple Silicon (M2,M3) CPU/GPU of any class. 
  • 1TB internal SSD storage. 
  • 16GB Min RAM, 32GB Recommended.

Optional (helpful) hardware:

  • Color, Photo and Document Scanner 
  • A Mouse, wired or wireless
    (while the trackpad on a MacBook is great, it’s no substitute for designing with a mouse) 

Free Software Access 

Temple University provides students with free access to essential software and cloud-based storage.

  • Adobe Creative Cloud
  • Microsoft 365
  • Temple University OneDrive

Students who are unable to purchase a laptop will have access to loaners during class time and can use one of the available systems in the working lab outside of class. 

Students with any technical questions about hardware or software should email Bryan Satalino, Associate Professor.