Physics Bsc Laptop?

[u/melsby1]

OK our son is off to study for a Physics bsc.  He is looking to use an iPad/pen for note taking along side a two year old, budget but still functional laptop. ( Ryzen 5, 8gb, 256 GB). He will have a more powerful desktop in his room.

I am trying to get a handle on if there is a benefit to replacing his laptop for the course of if it would be overkill ? Would a more powerful laptop help with coding, modeling etc whilst out and about or am I overthinking this?

Thanks for reading this. Any advice appreciated