All college students have wondered if they should buy a MacBook or an iPad to help with their studies. After considering each of the devices’ popularity, most students go with the laptop option. At a glance, both allow you to take notes, write essays, and complete basic homework. Looking deeper into each option and what they have to offer inevitably makes the decision process easier.
Laptops are the item everyone needs to do their day-to-day college activities and work. Computers let you download any necessary programs, and professors tend to assume students have them. Certain programs are only available on laptops and won’t work on iPads, though these aren’t commonly needed by students.
similarities to MacBooks
The iPad functions as the middle ground between an iPhone and a MacBook. You can buy a keyboard that connects to the iPad for a typing experience closer to that of a laptop. On top of that, an iPad has a touch screen which is very useful and more intuitive to use, similar to a touchscreen laptop.
Multitaskers don’t need to worry about switching from app to app. Just like the laptop, you can split the screen and have two tabs open at the same time. Additionally, with the iPad, you can have an app full screen while another is open on the side of the screen.
Weight
Laptops can be big and bulky, adding a heavy weight to your backpack. They can cause back strain, especially when combined with required textbooks and notepads. Because iPads are lighter, they cause less of a concern in terms of back strain. Even with the MacBook Air, the lightest MacBook, its weight combined with books can add up quickly and become exhausting. With an iPad, students can take notes, annotate readings, and read digital textbooks; iPads combine notebooks, textbooks, and a laptop into one light device! The iPad also allows for reading books, similar to an Amazon Kindle, so it can take the place of a novel as well.
Note-taking
If you prefer to take handwritten notes but need to upload them digitally for class, or if you simply don’t want to carry around multiple notebooks, an iPad is the solution. You can download Goodnotes, Noted., or Notability to handwrite your notes with the Apple Pencil. Everything is stored on the iPad, so you can avoid lugging around those heavy notepads. Plus, if you need to rewrite something or change a previous section, the iPad lets you do so easily. These apps also make it easier to maintain a planner. There are numerous aesthetically pleasing templates to choose from, which can help you stay organized.
In addition, if you’re someone who thinks all of this is appealing but still enjoys the feel of writing on paper, Paperlike offers screen protectors that, as the name suggests, feel like paper. You can protect your screen and get a papery feel all at once! Creatives can also use the iPad to draw like it’s pencil and paper, so you don’t need to learn how to use a laptop’s trackpad to draw through Adobe or other programs.
Cellular
On top of all these positive tools, you can now buy an iPad with a cellular data option, which MacBooks don’t offer. There is no need to worry if you’ll be able to complete assignments, check on your messages, or stay up to date on the go!
Price
In the end, what usually finalizes the decision is how much money the item costs. Especially as college students, we don’t really have the extra money to buy the most expensive version of something. Despite this, an iPad, Apple Pencil, and keyboard altogether are still cheaper than a MacBook. Even if you choose the iPad with the most storage and the Apple Magic Keyboard, the cost is about the same as a MacBook Air with an M1 chip and the least amount of storage. When it comes down to it, the iPad still slays the price aspect of decision-making.
When comparing the iPad to the MacBook, the iPad exceeds what a laptop has to offer to students. Therefore, I foresee iPads surpassing MacBooks as a student’s first choice of device to use for school.