Laptop recommendations for student researcher

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Level 1

4 points

Laptop recommendations for student researcher

For my work, I code, run analysis using heavy datasets, lots of research, I use r, endnote, stata, spss, sass, Microsoft office apps, creative cloud apps, articulate storyline and juggle multiple tabs and desktop. I need a new laptop, any recommendations? I need it to also be able to support two additional external monitors possibly through a docking station. I’m stuck between the 14-inch MacBook Pro in Space Black with M5 chip with 10-core CPU, 10-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine, 24GB unified memory and 512GB SSD storage (which supports 2 external monitors) and the 14-inch MacBook Pro M4 Pro chip with 12-core CPU, 16-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine, 24GB unified memory and 512GB SSD storage which is $250 but doesn’t support 2 external monitors.

iPad Air, iPadOS 26

Posted on Feb 5, 2026 8:25 PM

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Answer 1

TheLittles

Level 10

203,839 points

Feb 5, 2026 8:45 PM in response to jessh_21

"Laptop recommendations for student researcher: For my work, I code, run analysis using heavy datasets, lots of research, I use r, endnote, stata, spss, sass, Microsoft office apps, creative cloud apps, articulate storyline and juggle multiple tabs and desktop. I need a new laptop, any recommendations? I need it to also be able to support two additional external monitors possibly through a docking station. I’m stuck between the 14-inch MacBook Pro in Space Black with M5 chip with 10-core CPU, 10-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine, 24GB unified memory and 512GB SSD storage (which supports 2 external monitors) and the 14-inch MacBook Pro M4 Pro chip with 12-core CPU, 16-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine, 24GB unified memory and 512GB SSD storage which is $250 but doesn’t support 2 external monitors."

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Which Mac to Get for College:

Ask your Registrar:

Why is required to use would likely be known by the registrar. No one here would know the official answer. Making assumptions from others out and around is not ideal for meeting your expectations.

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