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Will Hogwarts Legacy Run on Your Laptop?

The new Harry Potter game is getting rave reviews (and plenty of contoversy), but can your low-end PC run it?

Hogwarts Legacy, the newest game set in the Harry Potter universe, has been a smashing success (albeit prefaced by the controversy over J.K. Rowling’s comments regarding transgender people). Out now, the game is available on nearly every modern console system, and also for Windows, where you can get it via Steam or the Epic Games Store.

Because it’s a modern PC game, its system requirements are beyond the capabilities of your average work or school laptop, and call for a discrete graphics card. However, the minimum, according to publisher WB Games, is an Nvidia GeForce 960 (or Radeon RX 470), a card that was released in 2014 for desktops and 2015 for laptops. 

Read more: Hogwarts Legacy: Platforms, Release Dates, More for the Harry Potter RPG

What are the required PC system specs for Hogwarts Legacy?

The game offers four sets of recommended or required hardware, but the lowest-end ones won’t get you much more than 30 frames per second at low quality settings. Decent hardware should get you 60fps at 1,920×1,080-pixel resolution. 

On PC, the game automatically evaluates your hardware and sets what it thinks are the best graphics settings, but you should still play around with them to find what works best for you. 

Hogwarts Legacy PC specs

Low High Ultra Ultra 4K
CPU Intel Core i5-6600 or AMD Ryzen 5 1400 Intel i7-8700 or AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Intel Core i7-10700Kor AMD Ryzen 7 5800X Intel Core i7-10700Kor AMD Ryzen 7 5800X
RAM 16GB 16GB 32GB 32GB
GPU Nvidia GeForce GTX 960 4GB or AMD Radeon RX 470 4GB Nvidia GeForce 1080 Ti or AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT or Intel Arc A770 Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti or AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 Ti or AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT
Storage 85GB  85GB  85GB  85GB 
Settings 720p / 30 fps, Low 1080p / 60 fps, High 1440p / 60fps, Ultra 2160p / 60fps, Ultra

Will Hogwarts Legacy run on a Mac?

No, it’s on consoles (PS4 and PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S and X) and Windows only for now. If the game gets added to a cloud service like Nvidia GeForce Now, that could be a Mac-friendly workaround.

OK, but how does it really play?

I loaded the game up on both a high-end gaming laptop and a midlevel nongaming laptop. The Razer Blade 18 has a Core i9 CPU and Nvidia’s RTX 4080 GPU, and I was hitting around 120-140fps at Ultra settings and 2,560×1,600-pixel resolution. 

Then I tried a Samsung Galaxy Book Pro laptop, with Intel’s Arc graphics chip. That sounds like it would be supported based on the chart above, but the Arc chip referenced there is a higher-end, model, not the more mainstream version in the Samsung. In this case, even with every setting turned down as far as possible, I could only manage a frame rate in the low/mid-20s, which I wouldn’t consider good enough for even casual gaming. 

So, will Hogwarts Legacy run on your work or school laptop without a discrete Nvidia or AMD GPU? Sadly not. 

Technologies

Repair Your Electronics at Home With This Rare Black Friday Discount on the iFixit Pro Tech Go Toolkit

This toolkit rarely goes on sale, so take advantage of this opportunity to snag it for only $40.

While Black Friday is an excellent time to replace old smartphones or broken laptops at a discount, not everyone is looking to splurge on new tech right now. If you’re shopping on a budget, or simply like the devices that you have and aren’t ready for an upgrade, investing in an electronics repair kit may be a wise option. We’ve spotted a discount on the iFixit Pro Tech Go tech toolkit, bringing its price down to just $40. But don’t delay, Black Friday is in its final hours and this kit rarely goes on sale.

The iFixit Pro Tech Go kit can be used to open up and repair a wide range of electronics, including smartphones, laptops, gaming consoles, and smart home devices for DIY repairs like battery or screen replacements. The kit has a 32-bit Moray driver kit, an opening tool, a suction handle, a jimmy, a spudger and angled tweezer to carefully open your devices.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.


Repairing your own tech can save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars. It also reduces e-waste by helping your devices last longer rather than throwing them away over minor issue. As of this year, all 50 states have introduced right-to-repair legislation designed to give people a legal right to fix their own tech, and several states have already signed it into law.

You can check out more deals from iFixIt now on Amazon. Plus, for other budget buys, check out our roundup of the best Black Friday deals under $100.

Why this deal matters

This is a record low price on a repair kit that rarely goes on sale. While we did see a modest discount on the iFixit Pro Tech Go toolkit during Amazon Prime Day in July, it was not marked down for October Prime Day or other sales such as Memorial Day or Labor Day. As such, it’s fairly unlikely that we’ll see it go on sale again this season, so this might be your last chance to get the toolkit for only $40.

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Don’t Say Goodbye to Black Friday Yet. These Rare Apple Discounts Are Still Going Strong

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Technologies

What a Ban Would Actually Mean for DJI Drone Owners and Holiday Shoppers

What’s the secret to a very un-merry shopping season? A brand new, unusable drone.

With Thanksgiving wrapped up and the Black Friday shopping sales here, if a DJI drone is on your holiday wish list, you might want to hit «buy» immediately. The company has issued a stark warning: Its drones could be banned from sale in the US, and the deadline is looming. 

The Federal Communications Commission voted 3-0 at the end of October to «close loopholes» that allow tech deemed a «national security risk» to be sold in the US. In plain English, the US government is clearing the path to give DJI the same treatment it gave Chinese phone-maker Huawei, effectively banning its products from the American market.

The US government has deemed DJI, which is based in China, a security risk. It’s also considering a separate ban on TP-Link routers.

DJI is already sounding the alarm, posting on Instagram that a «deadline that could decide DJI’s fate in the US is just 43 days away» (now 19 days away). The company is warning that without an audit, its products could face an «automatic ban.» The US government has long labeled the Chinese drone maker a security risk, and it looks like the hammer might finally be coming down right before the holidays.


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The vote isn’t the end of the road, however. Future bans would need to target specific products and would require a period of public consultation. But it appears the groundwork is being set for the FCC to block sales of future and some existing DJI drones from US shores, as well as products that use DJI technology.

The government has called for a DJI audit by the end of the year, but if that doesn’t happen, DJI drone products could be banned for sale by default under a national security law.

DJI asks for a security audit before any ban

A representative for DJI told CNET that while the FCC vote references a rule change that doesn’t currently apply to DJI specifically, the National Defense Authorization Act deadline in December would put Chinese companies like it on the FCC’s ban list, «without any evidence of wrongdoing or the right to appeal.»

Adam Welsh, head of global policy at DJI, said the company has repeatedly said it would be open to audit, but that «more than 10 months have now passed with no sign that the process has begun.» 

«The US government has every right to strengthen national security measures, but this must go hand in hand with due process, fairness, and transparency,» Welsh said.

Welsh said DJI is urging the government to start the audit process or grant an extension.

Will DJI drone owners need to give them up?

Because the ban would apply to new sales, not drones that have already been sold, a DJI drone you already own would still be legal to use — at least under current rules. 

Government agencies, however, are prohibited from purchasing or using drones from Chinese companies, including DJI.

DJI’s drones consistently rank high in their product category. In January, they dominated CNET’s list of best drones for 2025. But some of the company’s newest products, such as the DJI Mavic 4 Pro, haven’t been available for sale in the United States.

Even DJI products that are not yet banned may be hard to find. The website UAV Coach has posted a guide to the bans and reports that, due to inventory issues, most DJI drone models are sold out at retailers regardless of future FCC action. 

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