Technology Requirements

At MCPHS, technology is meant to assist you in your academic journey, not hinder your success. To provide you with the most robust learning environment, we have identified a guideline for ensuring you have the best experience. Before the start of classes, please be sure to check our technology requirements below and ensure that your computer or laptop meets our minimum requirements. Additional software may be required by your course instructors and will vary by semester, so please be sure to consult your course syllabus at the start of each term.

Please note: While an iPad, Chromebook or other similar tablet may be a useful tool for note-taking or other tasks, a laptop computer is still required to accommodate the various testing tools used in classes.

More information about the student laptop requirement can be found on our Student Laptop Information page.

PC

Specification Minimum Recommended

Processor

2.0 GHz Intel i3 or AMD processor

Intel Core i5 or AMD Ryzen 5 processor

Operating System

Windows® 10

Windows® 11

RAM

8 GB

16 GB or higher

Browser

Microsoft Edge 81+
Firefox 78

Microsoft Edge 89+
Firefox 86.0 (Auto-update turned on)

Internet Connection

Broadband (cable or FIOS/Fiber) – 25mbps download speed
Wireless 802.11n card

Broadband (cable or FIOS/Fiber) – 50mbps+ download speed
Wireless 802.11n/AC compatible card

Hardware

30 GB of hard disk space

50 GB+ of hard disk space

Software

MS Office 2016
Anti-virus software

MS Office 365 (free download through MCPHS Office 365 portal)
Windows Security Anti-virus software

Plug-ins
(free downloads)

VMWare Horizon View Client
Windows Media Player 12
Adobe Acrobat Reader DC
Java SE 15
VLC 3.0

VMWare Horizon View Client
Windows Media Center
Adobe Acrobat Reader DC
Java SE 16
VLC 3.0.12
Blackboard Browser Checker

Peripherals

Speakers & Microphone or Headset
Webcam

Speakers & Microphone or Headset
Webcam

Macintosh

Specification Minimum Recommended

Processor

Intel Core i3 or higher

Intel Core i5 or higher or Apple M1 Chip

Operating System

OS X (10.14) Mojave

OS X (10.15+) Catalina or higher

RAM

8 GB

16 GB or higher

Browser

Firefox 78
Safari 13

Firefox 86.0 (Auto-update turned on)
Safari 14+

Internet Connection

Broadband (cable or FIOS/Fiber) – 25mbps download speed
Wireless 802.11n card

Broadband (cable or FIOS/Fiber) – 50mbps+ download speed
Wireless 802.11n/AC compatible card

Hardware

30 GB of hard disk space

50 GB+ of hard disk space

Software

MS Office 2016 or higher
Anti-virus software

MS Office 365 for Mac (free download through MCPHS Office 365 portal)
Latest Avast Antivirus

Plug-ins
(free downloads)

VMWare Horizon View Client
Adobe Acrobat Reader DC
Java SE 15
VLC 3.0

VMWare Horizon View Client
Adobe Acrobat Reader DC
Java SE 16
VLC 3.0.12
Blackboard Browser Checker

Peripherals

Speakers & Microphone or Headset
Webcam

Speakers & Microphone or Headset
Webcam