Laptop recommendations for student researcher

jessh_21 wrote:

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.

Since you say that you are a "student researcher", I would suggest checking with your university to see what specialized software they might want you to run – and which platforms (Windows, Mac, Linux) they support.

If they support Macs, I would definitely recommend a MacBook Pro over a MacBook Air, but the question then becomes which MacBook Pro, and what configuration (how much RAM, how much internal SSD storage).

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.

Where did you get the idea that MacBook Pros with M4 Pro chips do not support two external monitors? Apple's Technical Specifications say:

M5 and M4 Pro

Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display at 1 billion colors and:

Up to two external displays with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz over Thunderbolt, or one external display with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz over Thunderbolt and one external display with up to 4K resolution at 144Hz over HDMI

One external display supported at 8K resolution at 60Hz or one external display at 4K resolution at 240Hz over HDMI

What that means is that if you want to attach a display with a super-high-resolution (e.g., 8K @ 60 Hz), or one with a super-high-refresh rate (e.g., 4K @ 144 – 240 Hz), you can only have one external display with either chip. But if your displays are within the resolution and refresh rate limits outlined in the previous paragraph, you can have two of them with either chip.

Now there could be subtle differences in display support between the plain M5 MBP and the M4 Pro MBP. It looks like the plain M5 has Thunderbolt 4 and DisplayPort 1.4, while the M4 Pro has Thunderbolt 5 and DisplayPort 2.1 – something I would also expect to see on the M5 Pro and M5 Max MBPs if, and when, they come out.

All versions of the 14” M4 MacBook Pro support 2 external monitors.

MacBook Pro (14-inch, M4 Pro or M4 Max, 2024) - Tech Specs - Apple Support

If budget is a concern the M4 should be fine.

If you can get the extra for the M5 there is no reason to not get it.

I need a new laptop,....

What are you now using? Mac? Windows? What OS version?

Your app list sounds like a Mac would work. However, as those are heavy-demand tasks, remember 14" M-series Macbook Pros that are not "Max" or "Pro" are reported to have only one cooling fan, whereas the Max and Pros have two. Better cooling means better performance.

I strongly suggest that you get the free app "MacTracker" from the Mac App Store or the iPad/iPhone App Stores. It shows bench marks that give some idea of the benefit, if any, for extras cores. Found this in MacTracker yesterday:

Note the small difference in scores as the number of cores change. Also note the basic 2024 "Pro" with 12/16 (which I have) is still 15% faster than the 2025 "plain" M5. New M5 Pro and Max models are rumored but we cannot speculate on unannounced products here.

And I whole-heartedly agree with my wise colleague, The Littles, on asking the University. I would add, based on our son's facing the same issues in Computer Engineering school, to also ask the STAFF in the department you plan to join. When we did so, staff had much more useful and up-to-date hardware and software info and tips than the Registrar's office had on file. Obviously that can vary by school..

In spite of our diligence, we still got "bit" his senior year. On enrollment, Eng staff told him he could make do with a Mac, although he's need to use Terminal to do some coding projects. He made the effort and it worked. Then they hired a new prof his senior year. Tradition is that profs choose the books they want, and that now extends to software. The new guy used a big Windows-only engineering package that emulation would not let run on our son's Macbook Pro even if upgraded.

So the "First Bank of Mom & Dad" got to buy a Windows laptop so he could finish. He did

If Mac is an option in your curriculum, look up the recommended hardware configurations for the major apps you plan to run, and gather the specific departments’ recommendations, and treat those as minimal or low. This as apps and overhead will only increase.

Budget for a hard disk drive of roughly three times your internal storage as your Time Machine backup device, too.

512 GB main storage is low, particularly if you’re planning on running this Mac for several years, or planning on working with video or with larger data sets or with LLM training. You can work around marginally-insufficient storage, but that involves more time and effort and planning and shuffling; more computer-management overhead. And apps and data sets and LLM models aren’t getting any smaller.

Don’t try to buy a Mac if your curriculum is largely Windows-based. You don’t need that extra effort and headaches added atop the schoolwork, and all while preferably having (somewhat of) a social life. I wouldn’t assume the Windows apps will support Windows on Arm, and it’s either that or Windows emulation to try to run Windows on an Apple silicon Mac. More management overhead, again.

Alan Jones: the multi-core performance reported mostly scales by the core count, which didn’t always used to be the case with multi-core computing. Going from 12 cores to 14 cores here goes up by roughly 1600 for each added core.

"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.