Carrier Ipad vs mac in a students perspective

[crackin.candy]

Hey everyone,

It's my first post on here and I need help with something.

Right now I am entering college as a finance student and have a MacBook Pro 15 inch mid 2015 version.
It works fine just loud, hot and has its hiccups.

But with this apple discount going on right now for students I want to cash in and get a new MacBook Pro/ipad.

Some background that might help is that my high school gave us ipads so Im very used to note taking on notability and thats how I learn. Looking to study on a laptop with out being able to annotate and write stuff down is not really what I want. I know I can just use paper but I know what the ipad experience is like and I'd rather not turn back.

I'm looking at either the Ipad pro 12.9 or the MacBook pro 16 inch. (ik the MB pro may be overkill but i like the size more than the 13 in which my mom has)
I know that i'll still need and will definitely bring my current laptop to run excel and maybe some other programs as a business/regular college student.

Really I just want your opinion. Will my current 2015 MacBook still be usable in lets say four years? Is the ipad worth it? I want the ipad because I am comfortable learning off of it through notability, goodnotes and I will even be able to use it in conjunction to my current macbook. (my highschool ipad was locked so i was not able to use it with my laptop through icloud). However I know the MacBook is the generic safe purchase as it will last long enough and be able to fully utilize some programs better than the ipad (excel is my best example).


Thanks for listening to me ramble. I'd like to know what you think.

 

[Marlon DLTH :)]

If you already have a MacBook that works fine, I recommend you buy the iPad. It will be useful for note taking and other tasks. For that kind of use, you can just buy the iPad Air, but if money isn't a problem for you, go for the iPad Pro 12.9.

 

[timh]

I'd get the cheapest iPad that works with a pen and save the rest of the money for the moment your mbp becomes unusable. If this moment comes I can't tell you

 

[MandiMac]

If you already have a MacBook that works fine, I recommend you buy the iPad. It will be useful for note taking and other tasks. For that kind of use, you can just buy the iPad Air, but if money isn't a problem for you, go for the iPad Pro 12.9.

I second this. So you can get a gist of what the iPad is good for, and you can decide for yourself if it is possible for your workflow to go iPad-only. Make sure to get a Pencil though because it's nice for marking things down which could be fitting for your work.

 

[adib]

iPad Mini is a lot more portable than a 15" MacBook Pro. At the same time you can also gauge whether iPad apps would be sufficient for your studies without spending too much money.

I use one with a Pencil and keyboard-case and found it very useful for travel and the like.

OTOH if the pandemic situation isn't going to improve, maybe portability won't be an advantage.

 

[MacRazySwe]

I majored in Finance, during my bachelor.

There will be many tasks that an iPad won’t be able to do. For example, statistical programs such as R or SPSS and data analysis and regressions in Excel (which is not even supported on Excel for Mac, let alone an iPad...). We even used trading programs that were only available on a desktop OS.

As much as I enjoy the iPad, it didn’t fit very well into the workflow. It’s great for bringing to lectures to take quick notes and highlight presentation slides. I think the iPad has progressed quite a bit here, where you can now also record in Notability - which will automatically sync the audio to your notes, which is something I always wanted from the MS Surface.

Personally, as much as I enjoy the iPad, I would recommend a thin and light laptop first, that you can easily bring wherever when needed. A 13” highly trumps the 15”/16” in that regard, and as you won’t be needing the power of the 16”, it’s simply a waste of resources. It will be heavy and it will take up too much space on the fold down tables in your lecture halls. Don’t forget that you will also be carrying plenty of heavy course literature in your bag. Also, battery life is key!

There is a reason why the MacBook Air is so popular among students...

I had a 13” MBA, and later 13” MBP + iPad Air 2. Worked well at the time!

Good luck.

 

[MandiMac]

There is a reason why the MacBook Air is so popular among students...

Price.

 

[AutomaticApple]

Hey everyone,

It's my first post on here and I need help with something.

Right now I am entering college as a finance student and have a MacBook Pro 15 inch mid 2015 version.
It works fine just loud, hot and has its hiccups.

But with this apple discount going on right now for students I want to cash in and get a new MacBook Pro/ipad.

Some background that might help is that my high school gave us ipads so Im very used to note taking on notability and thats how I learn. Looking to study on a laptop with out being able to annotate and write stuff down is not really what I want. I know I can just use paper but I know what the ipad experience is like and I'd rather not turn back.

I'm looking at either the Ipad pro 12.9 or the MacBook pro 16 inch. (ik the MB pro may be overkill but i like the size more than the 13 in which my mom has)
I know that i'll still need and will definitely bring my current laptop to run excel and maybe some other programs as a business/regular college student.

Really I just want your opinion. Will my current 2015 MacBook still be usable in lets say four years? Is the ipad worth it? I want the ipad because I am comfortable learning off of it through notability, goodnotes and I will even be able to use it in conjunction to my current macbook. (my highschool ipad was locked so i was not able to use it with my laptop through icloud). However I know the MacBook is the generic safe purchase as it will last long enough and be able to fully utilize some programs better than the ipad (excel is my best example).


Thanks for listening to me ramble. I'd like to know what you think.

Get the budget $329 iPad. It'll do what you need it to do.

 

[MacRazySwe]

Price.

Yes, that as well.

 

[hovscorpion12]

statistical programs such as R or SPSS and data analysis and regressions in Excel (which is not even supported on Excel for Mac, let alone an iPad...). We even used trading programs that were only available on a desktop OS.

I've emailed MFST/submitted multiple tickets regarding needed features for Excel for MacOS as well as iPadOS. The one's you've listed above are one of them. With the expectation of iPadOS 14 to be "desktop class", i'm expecting MSFT to start updating their apps. They are working on Split-View/Slide-over across the board, but they could easily synchronize their entire office suite across all OS's (Windows, Linux, MacOS, iPadOS) to be exactly the same.

 

[AndyMacAndMic]

Hey everyone,

It's my first post on here and I need help with something.

Right now I am entering college as a finance student and have a MacBook Pro 15 inch mid 2015 version.
It works fine just loud, hot and has its hiccups.

But with this apple discount going on right now for students I want to cash in and get a new MacBook Pro/ipad.

Some background that might help is that my high school gave us ipads so Im very used to note taking on notability and thats how I learn. Looking to study on a laptop with out being able to annotate and write stuff down is not really what I want. I know I can just use paper but I know what the ipad experience is like and I'd rather not turn back.

I'm looking at either the Ipad pro 12.9 or the MacBook pro 16 inch. (ik the MB pro may be overkill but i like the size more than the 13 in which my mom has)
I know that i'll still need and will definitely bring my current laptop to run excel and maybe some other programs as a business/regular college student.

Really I just want your opinion. Will my current 2015 MacBook still be usable in lets say four years? Is the ipad worth it? I want the ipad because I am comfortable learning off of it through notability, goodnotes and I will even be able to use it in conjunction to my current macbook. (my highschool ipad was locked so i was not able to use it with my laptop through icloud). However I know the MacBook is the generic safe purchase as it will last long enough and be able to fully utilize some programs better than the ipad (excel is my best example).


Thanks for listening to me ramble. I'd like to know what you think.

As a finance (or any other study) student in college you probably are not going to cope with an iPad alone. You will certainly need some software (for any study) which is not available for an iPad. The iPad is great for note taking, but you will almost certainly need a laptop also at some point. For finance specifically there are lots of programs you may need that don't run well or at all on an iPad.

 

[ericwn]

I majored in Finance, during my bachelor.

There will be many tasks that an iPad won’t be able to do. For example, statistical programs such as R or SPSS and data analysis and regressions in Excel (which is not even supported on Excel for Mac, let alone an iPad...). We even used trading programs that were only available on a desktop OS.

As much as I enjoy the iPad, it didn’t fit very well into the workflow. It’s great for bringing to lectures to take quick notes and highlight presentation slides. I think the iPad has progressed quite a bit here, where you can now also record in Notability - which will automatically sync the audio to your notes, which is something I always wanted from the MS Surface.

Personally, as much as I enjoy the iPad, I would recommend a thin and light laptop first, that you can easily bring wherever when needed. A 13” highly trumps the 15”/16” in that regard, and as you won’t be needing the power of the 16”, it’s simply a waste of resources. It will be heavy and it will take up too much space on the fold down tables in your lecture halls. Don’t forget that you will also be carrying plenty of heavy course literature in your bag. Also, battery life is key!

There is a reason why the MacBook Air is so popular among students...

I had a 13” MBA, and later 13” MBP + iPad Air 2. Worked well at the time!

Good luck.

This sounds like great advice from true experience. I’d also think along the lines of a good affordable laptop and an entry level iPad. All iPads support the pencil and have no issues with note taking apps.

 

[MacPoulet]

Does the student promo apply to basic iPad and iPad mini? In Canada it’s only for iPad Air and iPad Pro.

 

[artfossil]

Does the student promo apply to basic iPad and iPad mini? In Canada it’s only for iPad Air and iPad Pro.

I'm seeing the same in the US: iPad Pro and iPad Air.

 

[MacRazySwe]

Any updates @crackin.candy?

 

[lixuelai]

Suggest you get a 2017 MacBook 12. The 2015 15 is plenty fast still after a clean and repaste. Leave it in the dorm or for long group work and use the 12 for class. It is WAY more portable than even the Air.

 

[MacPoulet]

Suggest you get a 2017 MacBook 12. The 2015 15 is plenty fast still after a clean and repaste. Leave it in the dorm or for long group work and use the 12 for class. It is WAY more portable than even the Air.

That’s what I carry around with me. And it’s much easier to bike to work with a 12” MacBook. I take it for meetings and classes and use my iMac and Mac Pro when I’m in the office.

 

[Cosmo M3]

I majored in Finance, B.S. years ago and finished my MBA two years ago - there is no way I could get all that work done with just the iPad alone through grad school.