Recommended Equipment for Incoming Students
Revised 3/2026
Cal Poly Journalism, with its “mobile digital first” approach to newsgathering technology, recommends a base level set of equipment to all incoming first year students. This suggested list of equipment are common items that a journalism student would use throughout their college career at Cal Poly.
COMPUTER/NOTEBOOK/STORAGE:
Recommended System Requirements
- Apple MacBook Pro 16”
- M5 Pro 18 core CPU, 20 Core GPU
- 1TB Solid State Drive (SSD)
- 24GB RAM or better
- Latest OS
- 128GB or larger SDXC v90 Memory Card—full size (not mini with an adapter)
Minimum System Requirements
- Apple MacBook Pro 14”
- M3 Pro 11 Core CPU, 14 Core GPU
- 1TB Solid State Drive (SSD)
- 18GB RAM
- Latest OS
- 64GB or larger SDXC v90 Memory Card—full size (not mini with adapter)
MacBook Air and MacBook Neo, Chromebooks and iPads are not recommended, as these devices lacks sufficient storage, memory, processing and screen size to run and use the Adobe Creative Cloud effectively.
SOFTWARE:
- Adobe Creative Cloud available FREE to all Cal Poly students through software.calpoly.edu.
- Premiere Pro
- InDesign
- InCopy
- Photoshop
- Illustrator
- Audition
- After Effects
- DreamWeaver
- Audacity (free)
- CyberDuck (free)
- Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.), included as a part of Cal Poly enrollment.
- Brackets (free)
CELL PHONE/SMART PHONE:
- Apple iPhone 15 or greater with latest iOs
- Rode Reporter app for audio recording (free app in App Store)
- Adobe Rush for video editing (part of the free Adobe Creative Cloud subscription)
--OR--
- Android Phone
- Samsung Galaxy 24, Google Pixel 9 Pro or better running latest Android Operating system
- Rode Reporter app (free in Play store)
-
Adobe Rush for video editing (part of the Adobe Creative Cloud subscription)
HEADPHONES/EARBUDS:
Any good pair of over-the-ear headphones such as Audio Technica ATH-M40 or Sony MDR-7506 (for students interested in KCPR-FM).
-- OTHERWISE --
-
Philips Ear Buds with Microphone
SOCIAL MEDIA
Non-Personal (i.e. professional) Social Media account on the following platforms:
- Google (YouTube, Gmail, Drive, Slides, etc.)