You are required to have a college-issued iPad , which will be loaded with College of Medicine content and applications, and a personal laptop that can be used for taking exams.
We also strongly recommend investing in high-speed internet and supporting equipment for your home.
iPad Air
You will be provided with an iPad (64GB), keyboard case , and Apple pencil that will allow you to take digital notes, access your iBooks, run important applications, and stay connected to faculty and other students via Zoom. The iPad Air has a nice camera and microphone that are useful for online learning.
What can you do with your iPad?
Laptop
A laptop will be necessary for testing and to run complex applications. Your laptop must be able to pass the NBME Workstation Certification.
Financial aid can be used to buy a new laptop. Please reach out to Student Affairs at medicine.studentaffairs@wsu.edu for more information about that funding resource. Discounts on equipment are available at WSU’s CoreTech at coretech.wsu.edu.
Windows Laptop
Microsoft
Surface Laptop Go2- 12.4 in. PixelSense Touch Display
- Intel Core i5 1135G7
- RAM: 8GB
- Storage: 256 GB
- Intel Iris Xe Graphics
- Windows 11 Pro
Microsoft
Surface Laptop 5- 13.5 in. PixelSense Touch Display
- Intel Core i5 1245U
- RAM: 16GB
- Storage: 512 GB
- Intel Iris Xe Graphics
- Windows 11 Pro
Dell
G15 5530- 15.6 in. FHD Display
- Intel Core i7 13650HX
- RAM: 16GB
- Storage: 1 TB
- 8 GB NVIDIA RTX 4060 Graphics
Mac Laptop
Mac Book
Air- Apple M2chip with 8-core GPU, and 16-core Neural engine
- 8GB Unified Memory
- Storage: 256GB SSD
- Retina Display with True Tone
- MagSafe 3 Charging Port
- Touch ID
- Force Touch trackpad
- 2 Thunderbolt / 4 USB Ports
14" Mac Book
Pro- Apple M2 Pro chip with 10-core CPU, 16-core GPU and 16-core Neural Engine
- 16GB unified memory
- Storage: 512GB SSD
- 14 in. Liquid Retina XDR Display
- Touch ID
- 3 Thunderbolt 4 ports, HDMI port, SDXC card slot
16" Mac Book
Pro- Apple M2 Pro chip with 12-core CPU, 19-core GPU, and 16-core Neural Engine
- 16GB unified memory
- Storage: 512GB SSD
- 16 in. Liquid Retina XDR Display
- Touch ID
- 3 Thunderbolt 4 ports, HDMI port, SDXC card slot
If you have a problem with your laptop or iPad, contact The Office of Technology (MedTech). We have a limited pool of loaners available for checkout on an as-needed basis.
Internet
A strong internet connection will greatly impact your learning experience. Some considerations for your home network are provided below.
At minimum, we recommend 8 Mbps download and 8 Mbps upload available for an individual learner.
- The base packages available from traditional, wired, broadband providers (DSL, Cable, or Fiber) will all typically be sufficient for a household of at least 1–2 active users.
- You likely will not see a direct benefit from high-tier ISP packages (500+ Mbps) unless you have a very specific need aside from your education.
A package offering speeds in the 20 Mbps–50 Mbps is a good target, if available.
- We generally recommend choosing a DSL, Cable, or Fiber ISP. However, in a congested living situation where you have limited control over the home network, you may wish to consider purchasing a wireless hotspot from one of the major cellular providers. Your experience with these devices will be highly dependent on the quality of the cell signal around your home.
Consider the total number of residents, and their individual Internet usage patterns, to come up with an idea of the overall capacity required to meet the needs at your residence.
Please read this article on choosing an ISP, which includes guidelines for understanding how much bandwidth is used by different applications, such as streaming video (generally around 3 Mbps–5 Mbps per stream).
Your Wi-Fi router runs 24 x 7 and is the core of your home network. Consider replacing your router when:
- It is older than 2–3 years.
- Your internet connection seems unstable.
- Your ISP tells you that your upstream connection looks good, but you still have problems.
If you would like to research your options for Wi-Fi routers and understand some of the terminology used in the marketing literature, here is an article to start with or see:
- TP-Link AC1200 Gigabit Smart Wi-Fi Router: $49.99
- ASUS Dual-Band 2×2 AC1200: $59.99
If you live in a larger, multi-bedroom residence (or you just really enjoy technology), you may wish to consider a more advanced router that can be extended for increased range using a wireless mesh or wired backhaul system.
Most of the higher-end equipment will offer advanced network management, including Quality of Service (QOS) capabilities that will allow you to prioritize internet traffic for specific devices. This may be something you want to consider in a multi-resident household.
by the Office of Technology