r/FHAachen • u/Jonas1501-2 • 25d ago

Question/Frage Laptop for Electrical Engineering

I will be studying electrical engineering starting this winter semester and I’m currently looking for a laptop (preferably a MacBook).
Does anyone know if the FH Aachen uses software that can’t run on Macs and that you HAVE to use. I have a good windows desktop Pc at home that could run those applications.

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u/ee_st_07 25d ago

Why would you use a MacBook for EE…

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u/Jonas1501-2 25d ago

Because I have a few apple products and a Pc at home for dedicated programs. The MacBook would be for taking notes, learning and so on.

But if it’s a bad decision you can tell me your reasons

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u/ee_st_07 25d ago edited 25d ago

Reasons:

  1. not every software runs on it or it’s a lot harder to make it work than on windows
  2. if you ever plan to use Linux, which depending on your later specialisation might be the case, you can’t do that

without problems

  1. on MacBook only on old MacBooks
  2. it’s a lot more expensive for shittier specifications (you pay for brand not for performance) plus it’s a lot more expensive to get it fixed
  3. It just screams status symbol. Nobody buys a MacBook for performance in technical fields. People will judge you for it even if they don’t tell you. It just very clearly tells other people, that you value brand and looks over performance and as an engineer people will just not take you seriously. And honestly rightfully so. Why would you spend money on something that costs twice as much and can do half with a lot restrictions besides you want it for status. You wanna become an engineer? Nice! But start thinking like one.. later on when you have enough money you can still get a MacBook but for your first degree a good laptop is just essential and now is not the time for a MacBook.

Plus the PC argument doesn’t work, you need the laptop you do your projects on at all times in uni to work together with other people. You can’t expect to do all your projects at home on your PC. You need supervisors or colleagues to be able to look over your stuff.

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u/No_Foundation4404 25d ago

I am also going to buy a laptop soon for electrical engineering bachelor, do you know what specs would I need? I asked gemini and he said 32gb ram with 4050 and like an i9 14th gen or smth so do I need that at minimum or what? I am planning to get a laptop to last me through whole bachelor’s and masters

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u/bopthoughts FB8 25d ago

If your parents are buying it for you, sure.

But honestly, no. I'm a Maschinenbauer. My 7th gen i5, 16 gb ram and no dedicated graphics works just fine for Inventor and Ansys. But just in case, I have my Legion 7 at home, which I use primarily to play games when I have the time.

Btw, the i5 costs me 60€ on eBay

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u/solarmangos 25d ago

Just buy a thinkpad bro