What spec laptop would I need for aerospace engineering?

Hi! I’m starting aerospace engineering at Bristol in September and I was wondering what spec of laptop I would need. I’ve seen some people say you’ll need a higher end one with discrete graphics to run some engineering programs and others say you just need a normal laptop (like an i5 or i7 12th gen+) with reasonable RAM (8 or 16 gigs). Can anyone who’s done/doing engineering help me out here? Thanks!

What are you planning on using the laptop for?

Deffo for taking to lectures and stuff, but I have my own desktop pc I’m also taking for things like CAD, CFD etc. I’m not sure if I’ll need to use the laptop for some of these programs too, so I’m not sure if it needs to be higher spec or not haha

You won't need to use your own laptop for anything, and certainly not CAD or CFD (you may not even be able to get a licence for them to run yourself), as the university will have computers that have these installed for you to use. Back when I was at university - which is admittedly a while ago now - I don't recall anyone actually running high-end engineering software on their own computers. It's also worth pointing out that running these software packages does not comprise a particularly big portion of the degree either.
Anything that can run Office is fine for taking to lectures.

Having just completed this very degree - I can confirm you can have the most basic or all singing- all dancing laptop, makes no difference. They won’t ask you to get any software for it, as they will have licenses on specialist computers because it’s a requirement on THEM to provide it if they have an assignment that is asking for it (we used ANSYS for modelling in one of our assignments, which was all classroom based).
It’s also correct that such programs form a fraction of what you’ll do on the course, so not worth the outlay etc. What I will say is, being a ‘mature’ student, I relied on good old pen/paper notes lol, but most had notebook type laptops with only a handful having ‘full’ laptops which were used purely for note taking and writing assignments/dissertation.
Also, if there’s any help/advice you need having just done this course, drop me a message and I’ll be more than happy to help.

As a student a solid laptop is sufficient. And even my old one back then could run CAD... But as the other said it, you won't need it, maybe later, in case you do a project or a PHD and you are able to get a license. But in the beginning, no need.