Landed a spring internship at a boutique IB and I realize that my MacBook Pro will not be sufficient to complete the work that requires excel and powerpoint. I'm looking for a cheap laptop (<$300) that would allow me to do the work I need to for this internship. Open to all advice and suggestions
| +298 | UBS Tech MD hires Son (from no-name college) as an Intern | 51 | 8h |
| +103 | The Intern Starter Pack | 20 | 8h |
| +77 | [Official] 2026 IB Analyst Bonus Megathread (with 2025 Consolidated Pay and Perks/Benefits) | 11 | 1d |
| +55 | Perella Weinberg to Cut 10% of Workforce, Including Partners | 35 | 1d |
| +46 | Are all Tech / TMT groups sweaty? | 25 | 17m |
| +40 | UBS Groups Ranked by Future Outlook | 20 | 3d |
| +39 | Is DCM actually underrated ? | 15 | 3h |
| +33 | PWP Layoffs????? | 18 | 5d |
| +32 | UVA McIntire vs Cornell Dyson for IB | 19 | 1d |
| +29 | Are search funds just wage-c**k factories? | 11 | 18h |
Career Resources
Get instant access to lessons taught by experienced private equity pros and bulge bracket investment bankers including financial statement modeling, DCF, M&A, LBO, Comps and Excel Modeling.
They should provide you with a laptop that has all relevant programs/security installed.
Depending on which bank you go to, you may be given a crippled laptop with bloatware that will constantly freeze randomly, but you should get A laptop.
Your bank will give you one but generally for this job laptop is not something you want to skimp on. If you intend to do IB full time and want to travel on a random weekend, you will not be able to do any fulsome work on a $300 laptop. You need some amount of horsepower to handle large files.
Lots of recommendations out there, but if you end up buying one the extra $500-700 on a midrange thinkpad with a good chip and decent ram is worth it.
I think one thing being overlooked above is that you’re going to a spring internship at a boutique. Note I am not downplaying that, I did the same exact thing but the work won’t necessarily be as CPU intensive as it would be as an SA at a BB. When I interned at a boutique my freshman summer I literally just did like conference data pulling (attendees, contacts etc.) so a $300 Lenovo idea pad is totally fine, if you’re going to be doing full modeling, factset linking, using capIQ, using internal file servers etc. you should drop the $$ to get a nicer laptop as discussed above.
Not saying anyone above is wrong but it depends on your use
Just get Parallels, it's a virtual machine so all the heavy lifting is done on their servers. Your Mac just becomes a glorified keyboard and screen. Also they have a student discount so you get 50% off or something like that
Ab ullam sunt quos nostrum. Rerum qui est odio accusamus commodi possimus autem. Tempore vitae corrupti minima eum sint. Reiciendis quo rem quaerat minus earum sint. Hic repellat ut suscipit iure et praesentium voluptas aut.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...