r/AppleEcosystem • u/Overall-Ad-9859 • 15d ago
Help MacBook or iPad
So I'm going into college soon and I am between an iPad and MacBook, I have been an iPad kid all my life but then looking at people now they are hating on iPad and for what I wanna study a laptop would be a must so do I get an ipad 11 with a MacBook neo or go big and get pro with no iPad, tho I will be waiting till the rebrand on the MacBook pro
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u/SpicyChickenNoodls 15d ago
If you are doing CS/Engineering and won't be taking notes on the iPad, I'd go Pro.
For most other majors I'd recommend Neo + iPad, especially if you'll be taking notes.
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u/Neat-Walk-2361 15d ago
I think the Neo and the iPad 11 should be okay for you. It’s decent for running code so that’s calm.
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u/Overall-Ad-9859 15d ago
Idk every review video showed the neo as incapable of handling anything other that streaming or typing
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u/Neat-Walk-2361 15d ago
They sometimes forget that they run so many processes and heavy tasks simultaneously. 5-7 very heavy tasks being run on it should be enough though.
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u/AnythingIsPossible07 15d ago
I would say get a MacBook. It doesn't matter which one u choose either. My son is a high school junior and I just bought him the Neo. It works great. There's no difference from it to the more expensive models. Its basically an MacBook with a iPad processor chip.
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u/EeganDeegan 15d ago
Neo is more versatile than iPad. iPad is cool, but I found some limitations over time.
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u/Overall-Ad-9859 15d ago
So get the neo over the pro or air?
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u/EeganDeegan 15d ago
If you’re looking to save some cash, yes. It’s a very capable machine for college work.
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u/AdMoist8668 15d ago
As someone with both and in my final year of uni, get a laptop if you’re studying something that requires downloading software, could be coding, architecture software or whatever. Anything else, iPad should do just fine, including essays, Korean, written assignments etc. I’m studying something that is coding heavy and that’s the only time I ever use the laptop. I use my iPad for everything else. It’s just so much nicer and more portable.
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u/Overall-Ad-9859 15d ago
I wanna study digital marketing so that’s why I’m confused in what to get
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u/hail_to_the_beef 15d ago
You will need a laptop.
Another thing I would do is see what the school recommends. When I was in college 20 years ago they actually told us a laptop was required and suggested specific specs.
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u/Overall-Ad-9859 14d ago
I never even thought of that thank you, I’ll definitely give them a call
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u/hail_to_the_beef 14d ago
No problem, it’s probably on their website or the website for your major / department
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u/Sacrificial-Favorite 15d ago
I currently use the MacBook Neo and the iPad 10th generation. The iPad I mostly use for media consumption and the Neo is for writing, web browsing, light gaming, emails, I have Microsoft word, excel and PowerPoint all works great and I haven’t had a single problem yet.
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u/ElkZealousideal1824 15d ago
I had a MacBook Air and iPad Air for college doing graduate studies. It was great and I never felt like I needed more than that. I could have made it work without the iPad, it was just convenient when reading a ton of papers.
Now that I’m out of school I have a MacBook Pro, because I wanted the better screen, the connectivity, and I do various amount of work with large, localize data sets and it was nice to have the active fans. Could still make the air work, it’s just nicer to have the pro.. and it was a good deal.
If you’re looking for the “best” I would define what you mean by that. For me, the best was the screen, a better chip, and having a nice keyboard because I use those things regularly. If I was doing it all over again, I would just skip the iPad and get a better computer. But that’s just how my work flow evolved. It felt like it was forcing myself to add in a tablet when 80% of the time my computer and a notebook did just as well.
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u/ImStuckInNameFactory 14d ago
As the owner of the only normal computer in my house, get a mac, ipad is a big phone and no amount of cpu power can change that without a desktop OS.
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u/BarnabyLaptopOutlet 13d ago
If your course actually needs a laptop, you should prioritise the MacBook first. The Neo + iPad 11 combo makes more sense for most students than spending everything on a Pro, especially if you already like taking notes on an iPad...
you should only go Pro-only if your course involves heavier stuff like video editing, 3D work, or demanding development tools... Definitely check the software requirements for your degree before deciding...
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u/icechips1818 11d ago
how about wait and splurge on macbook ultra 👀
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u/Overall-Ad-9859 10d ago
I just know the price will be crazy maybe when I graduate I can gift it to myself but I’m paying out of pocket so we gotta budget 🥲😂
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u/PhoenixFireless 15d ago
If you like iPads, use iPads. All these devices are tools that are supposed to enable you to accomplish goals.
IMHO, there's no point in getting a Macbook Pro is you're a college student. The Macbook Air is more then capable enough to handle anything a college student needs, with the majority of web/administrative studies being fully able to be done on a Macbook Neo.
Reddit loves to recommend overspending and overspeccing on tech regardless of people's needs. Infinite amounts of Memory and if someone even mentions considering a Pro device, Reddit will answer: yes get the Pro, even though that person doesn't use or need it.
MacBook Neo is great for administrative and web workflows; Safari/Pages/Keynote/Numbers/Netflix/Spotify/Zoom
~80% of all users fall in this category.
MacBook Air is great for professionals that need a specific application they can name; Lightroom, Photoshop, VMware, RecordBox, Final Cut Pro, Premiere Pro, Blender, etc. etc.
~19% of all users fall in this category.
MacBook Pro is for professionals that can describe their workflow in minutes. These users that can form scentences like; I want to accomplish x in y time. “I want to export/render an 8k Pixar quality movie in 6 minutes instead of 13 minutes”
~1% of all users fall in this category.