Recommended Equipment for Incoming Students

Revised 8/2025

Cal Poly Journalism, with its “digital first” approach to news gathering, recommends a basic set of equipment for all incoming freshmen and transfer students. This suggested list includes common tools journalism students will use throughout their college careers.

HARDWARE

We recommend that each student have access to a laptop for completing assignments. While both PC and Mac laptops are acceptable, please note that our department primarily uses a Mac-based environment. Tablets and smartphones are not recommended, as they are not suitable for the video and graphics editing work required in the program.

Here’s the minimum recommendation for a laptop:

Apple MacBook Pro 14” (or equivalent)
- M1 Pro 8 core CPU, 14 Core GPU
- 1TB Solid State Drive (SSD)
- 16GB RAM or better

Also recommended:

USB 3 Thumb Drive 64GB or greater (especially if using a laptop with reduced memory capacity such as a MacBook Air or similar)

64GB or larger UHS-I U3 SDHC memory card x2

SOFTWARE

If students own a laptop, it’s recommended that download and install the following applications prior to the start of the school year:

Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, etc.), included as a part of Cal Poly enrollment.

The Adobe Creative Cloud software is used throughout the journalism department and is available to students for $29.95/yr through Cal Poly: software.calpoly.edu. For additional information on how to log into On the Hub, visit The ITS Service Catalog. Recommended Adobe software to install prior to the start of school:

- Premiere Pro
- Photoshop
- Illustrator 

CELL PHONE/SMARTPHONE

It’s recommended that students have one of the following:

iPhone

Apple iPhone 12 or greater with the latest version of iOS and the following apps:
- RODE Recorder for audio recording (free in App Store)
- Adobe Rush for video editing (part of the Adobe Creative Cloud subscription)
- Lightning TRRS adapter/dongle such as this one or USB C to TRRS adapter/dongle such as this one, depending on your model iPhone.

--OR--

Android Phone

Samsung Galaxy 20 (or newer/similar) with Android 11 OS or better
- RODE Recorder for audio recording (free in Play Store)
- Adobe Rush for video editing (part of the Adobe Creative Cloud subscription)
- If your phone does not have a headphone jack/USB C only port, you will need a USB C to TRRS adapter/dongle such as this one.

HEADPHONES/EARBUDS

Any good pair of over-the-ear headphones such as Audio Technica ATH-M40x or Sony MDR-7506 (for students interested in KCPR-FM). OTHERWISE...
Philips PRO6015 Ear Buds with Microphone