Recommended Equipment List
Recommended Equipment for Incoming Students
Revised 9/2024
Cal Poly Journalism, with its “mobile digital first” approach to news gathering technology, recommends a base level set of equipment to all incoming freshmen and transfer students. This suggested list of equipment are common items that a journalism student would use throughout his/her college career at Cal Poly.
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS
COMPUTER/NOTEBOOK/STORAGE:
- Apple MacBook Pro 14”
- M1 Pro 8 core CPU, 14 Core GPU
- 1TB Solid State Drive (SSD)
- 16GB RAM or better
- USB 3 Thumb Drive 64GB or greater
- 64GB or larger UHS-I U3 SDHC memory card x2
SOFTWARE:
- Adobe Creative Cloud 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.
- Premiere Pro
- InDesign
- InCopy
- Photoshop
- Illistrator
- Audition
- After Effects
- Dreamweaver
- Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, etc.), included as a part of Cal Poly enrollment.
- Audacity (Free)
- Cyberduck (Free)
- Brackets (Free)
- Tableau Public (Free)
CELL PHONE/SMARTPHONE:
- Apple iPhone 12 or greater with latest version of iOS.
- ZOOM HandyRecorder 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 or similar with Android 11 OS or better
- Voice Recorder (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-M40 or Sony MDR-7506 (for students interested in KCPR-FM). OTHERWISE...
- Philips PRO6015 Ear Buds with Microphone
SOCIAL MEDIA:
Non-personal (i.e., professional) social media account on the following platforms: