I'm a college student in Australia (Grade 12), I have been thinking of buying an Ipad to pair with my m1 mba. I was originally going to buy an Ipad Air 4 with an Apple pencil g2 with 64Gb and wifi. But for roughly the same price, I could get an Ipad Mini 6 with 256GB storage, cellular and a pencil g2. But I want to know if the smaller 8.3-inch display compared to the 10.9 or the air is large enough for taking notes and just general studying. I plan to write essays and do the heavy stuff on my MacBook, but for one the go note-taking at home or studying on the bus from volleyball practise, etc. Is it a better route to go with the mini or should I get the larger screen on the AIR?
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All iPads Is the Ipad Mini 6 good for Note Taking (college student)?
- Thread starter pranam
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Like everything else, it really depends on your own preference for the screen size. However, the mini is very popular for note-taking in class and studying on the go due its small and portable size - some might say that this is exactly where the mini excels, what it is made for.
It would make an awesome combi together with the MBA. Since, you still plan on using your MacBook you might even consider the base 64gb model. If it would be enough on the Air, there is no reason it shouldnt be enough on the mini. And you would avoid the Apple-tax on the extra storage.
It would make an awesome combi together with the MBA. Since, you still plan on using your MacBook you might even consider the base 64gb model. If it would be enough on the Air, there is no reason it shouldnt be enough on the mini. And you would avoid the Apple-tax on the extra storage.
I saw it in class once (college), looked very slick next to my 12.9 iPad Pro. Guess it depends on your usage, I like to have at least two windows open (one 70% window for Notability, other for Files, Reminders, Notes, Safari etc.). When note taking I imagine you’d have to zoom in/out more often on mini, to the point it would become counterproductive. Even on 12.9 horizontal mode, I often have to lasso and downsize my scribbles a bit when annotating a PDF. So I wouldn’t personally go smaller than iPad/Air or 11-inch Pro for Pen usage. For note taking with BT keyboard the mini should be fine.
since college classes tend to be long and usually multiple pages of notes are taken. the iPad 11 or 12 inch might be better
I don't take notes in classes, but do a lot of note taking in meetings, seminars, etc.
Mini is better for portability but the Air would be better for note-taking, especially for diagrams, annotating pdfs, and for just about everything else.
The best one is the one that you are more likely to actually use. The Mini has essentially half the effective working space of the Air, which is a big compromise - but the Air is useless if you don't take it with you.
I have the both the Mini and an 11" iPad, btw.
Mini is better for portability but the Air would be better for note-taking, especially for diagrams, annotating pdfs, and for just about everything else.
The best one is the one that you are more likely to actually use. The Mini has essentially half the effective working space of the Air, which is a big compromise - but the Air is useless if you don't take it with you.
I have the both the Mini and an 11" iPad, btw.
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I would not recommend the Mini as your only iPad for note-taking. As others have said above the larger Air and Pro are going to be a far better note-taking experience. The 11” and 12.9” devices will allow you to split screen with note-taking on one side and slides/PDFs/video on the other side with ease. The Mini is as large as a small notepad and isn’t as fun to use in split-screen.
The Mini can work if used alongside another large iPad, in which its use is situation dependent - where you don’t need any multitasking and/or you are perhaps referring to printed materials, so the notepad-sized Mini is fine.
The Mini can work if used alongside another large iPad, in which its use is situation dependent - where you don’t need any multitasking and/or you are perhaps referring to printed materials, so the notepad-sized Mini is fine.
What do you currently use for note-taking? Do you use a larger A4 size pad/notebook? If so, then I would recommend the Air. If you use something like an A5 pad, then I'd recommend the Mini. Of course if you use something even smaller that fits in your pocket then the Mini would suffice as well.
For paper pad/notebook, I use a half-Letter size pad which is comparable to A5 and the Mini (I have a Mini 5) is nearly identical in size to that so it works out great.
There are some terrific note-taking apps available for iPad OS that will make using the iPad for extended notes very useful. I recommend using something like Notability or GoodNotes as they are very popular (provide a great mix of functions specifically for your use cases) and just as importantly, have Mac OS components.
Having your note-taking apps have both an iPad OS and Mac OS versions allows for some very productive workflows. Use the Mini to take notes in class and on the go then back at your room, you can access your notes on your Macbook for further use in preparing for assignments and papers.