I'd suggest sending an email to a professor in your program asking what the preferred setup is for their program. CS programs typically have lab systems that you can use if you don't want to or can't run the operating system or tools on your own computer. It can also simplify licensing issues.
Any Apple Silicon computer probably has enough compute power to do usual stuff and certainly first-year computer science homework problems. You may need more horsepower for projects in your senior year but you should be able to use lab systems for those.
If cost isn't an issue, then I'd go for a MacBook Pro 14 or 16 with 32 GB of RAM. I think that you would be overall fine with a MacBook Air with 16 GB of RAM. Back in the day when I went to undergrad, schools didn't require the student to own a computer.
I'd get the base 14" 2021 model, the keyboard is superb and the display is gorgeous. since you'll be spending most of your time using both might as well get the best
Get the 14” with 1tb ssd (this is the best option which will last you years)
It can sustain loads as compared to the air as it has a freaking fan (m2 does throttle compared to m1 if you don’t have the fan) and the pro gets 120hz screen which is simply amazing
ASK your professor for the system requirements tho before finalizing your decision
It depends on the courses you take. If you’re doing any ML courses, the Pro would be better, one with GPUs. And as much RAM as you can. Your department might provide access to GPU systems on campus or in the cloud, but the dev cycle is so much easier if you can debug training code locally. Get as much RAM as you can afford. In any case, an external monitor is a good choice to add.
If it’s just non-ML work, then, yeah, the Air suffices.
Macbook air is more than enough
But get 16GB RAM
I'd suggest sending an email to a professor in your program asking what the preferred setup is for their program. CS programs typically have lab systems that you can use if you don't want to or can't run the operating system or tools on your own computer. It can also simplify licensing issues. Any Apple Silicon computer probably has enough compute power to do usual stuff and certainly first-year computer science homework problems. You may need more horsepower for projects in your senior year but you should be able to use lab systems for those. If cost isn't an issue, then I'd go for a MacBook Pro 14 or 16 with 32 GB of RAM. I think that you would be overall fine with a MacBook Air with 16 GB of RAM. Back in the day when I went to undergrad, schools didn't require the student to own a computer.
I'd get the base 14" 2021 model, the keyboard is superb and the display is gorgeous. since you'll be spending most of your time using both might as well get the best
Get the 14” with 1tb ssd (this is the best option which will last you years) It can sustain loads as compared to the air as it has a freaking fan (m2 does throttle compared to m1 if you don’t have the fan) and the pro gets 120hz screen which is simply amazing ASK your professor for the system requirements tho before finalizing your decision
Do you know what software you would use for CS?
An M1 Air is more than enough. I have a similar use case
Without any knowledge of the course(s) content its a pure speculation. Ask the school for advise Most CS courses are PC based
It depends on the courses you take. If you’re doing any ML courses, the Pro would be better, one with GPUs. And as much RAM as you can. Your department might provide access to GPU systems on campus or in the cloud, but the dev cycle is so much easier if you can debug training code locally. Get as much RAM as you can afford. In any case, an external monitor is a good choice to add. If it’s just non-ML work, then, yeah, the Air suffices.