MacBook Pro or iPad Pro?

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acarolina

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Hi everyone, I was looking at buying a new MacBook Pro to replace my old one before entering med school next week, but then I saw the videos for the iPad Pro on the website and the note taking capabilities with the pencil look like it would be a useful feature to annotate directly on PowerPoints, etc. Does anyone have any experience with both or advice on deciding between both? Thanks so much!

Edit: I am planning on streaming lectures from home after the first week or so, and our school provides lecture notes that list the salient points from each lecture. I'm not sure if I will even be needing to take notes myself (?)

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I'd recommend the iPad, with a good amount of memory. With the keyboard and pencil, you'll have pretty much the same capabilities as the MBP.
 
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I love having a tablet to take notes! I don't have a ipad pro but I do have a surface pro and the tablet/pc aspect such a great student tool
 
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At the minimum, you should have one reliable laptop. If you already have a laptop, I don't think it is necessary to upgrade to a MBP. If you don't already have a laptop, buy whatever laptop floats your boat but I recommend against doing the tablet+keyboard setup. Tablets still aren't at the level of a normal laptop. I couldn't imagine working on research projects, abstracts, essays, etc. on a tablet.

With regards to a tablet, I bought an iPad for clinical rotations. Any notes I took during M1/M2 were typed next to Powerpoints imported into OneNote/Notability. I never had the need to draw or use a stylus during preclinical years.
 
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Depends on what you're using it for. I use my MBP for almost everything, but my iPad for watching vids/reading while in comfortable places.
 
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Thanks everyone!

@AcademicNeurosurgery why did you buy an iPad for rotations?

Got a great deal on one and wanted it to use for both seeing patients and studying. It looks better than pulling out a phone, less eye strain, easier to watch videos/read PDFs/do questions during any down time. Had a couple physicians who really appreciated having access to an EMR and medical apps on-the-go. It definitely wasn't necessary but made life easier and the price was unbeatable. I could probably sell it today for a profit or minimal loss at worst.
 
Check with your school -- you may need a laptop for taking exams.
 
If you already have a Mac, go with the iPad Pro and the pencil. Most of my Mac friends are shifting over that way in med school. We have a shared OneNote where we take notes when we study together, and their hand-drawn notes on the iPad are gorgeous...easy to read, easy to write, but online and shareable, and you can save them.

It also helps my one friend with ADD because if she's on the computer, she's on the internet, but if she's on the iPad and handwriting, she stays in that app better and doesn't get distracted.
 
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I own both an iPad & MacBook. I ended up ditching the iPad completely because it was hard to stream video + type notes at the same time, and you can't 2x a lot of video streaming on the iPad (essential imo), plus making anki cards on the iPad sucks. The iPad is pretty nice for annotating pdfs but I regret buying it.
 
Hi everyone, I was looking at buying a new MacBook Pro to replace my old one before entering med school next week, but then I saw the videos for the iPad Pro on the website and the note taking capabilities with the pencil look like it would be a useful feature to annotate directly on PowerPoints, etc. Does anyone have any experience with both or advice on deciding between both? Thanks so much!

Edit: I am planning on streaming lectures from home after the first week or so, and our school provides lecture notes that list the salient points from each lecture. I'm not sure if I will even be needing to take notes myself (?)
Both
 
You could just get both. I bought a MBP and it came with a free pair of beats which I traded into Amazon for a 200 dollar credit. From there you can buy a refurb iPad Pro 9.7" for like $200 after you use your credit, or you can buy a used one on eBay for ~$375 (I feel like buying a refub/used iPad isn't that risky because they are pretty durable and last a long time). This is what I did, mostly because I just wanted an iPad in general for Netflix and stuff but I figured I might as well just cough up an extra hundred bucks and get one that I can use an Apple Pencil with if I want.
 
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You could just get both. I bought a MBP and it came with a free pair of beats which I traded into Amazon for a 200 dollar credit. From there you can buy a refurb iPad Pro 9.7" for like $200 after you use your credit, or you can buy a used one on eBay for ~$375 (I feel like buying a refub/used iPad isn't that risky because they are pretty durable and last a long time). This is what I did, mostly because I just wanted an iPad in general for Netflix and stuff but I figured I might as well just cough up an extra hundred bucks and get one that I can use an Apple Pencil with if I want.

Damn that's such a good idea. Still have a little less than 2 years until I need a new computer but I'm definitely going to be on the look out for that.

And OP, I know it's super spendy, but if you can afford it ... get both. I use my ipad for EVERYTHING. I read my textbooks, write up homework, take notes, watch youtube, listen to podcasts (sometimes all at the same time :/) on that thing. I'm still pre-med, but I can't imagine that I won't be wanting an ipad for med school too.
 
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You could just get both. I bought a MBP and it came with a free pair of beats which I traded into Amazon for a 200 dollar credit. From there you can buy a refurb iPad Pro 9.7" for like $200 after you use your credit, or you can buy a used one on eBay for ~$375 (I feel like buying a refub/used iPad isn't that risky because they are pretty durable and last a long time). This is what I did, mostly because I just wanted an iPad in general for Netflix and stuff but I figured I might as well just cough up an extra hundred bucks and get one that I can use an Apple Pencil with if I want.
That's really smart. I wonder how long Amazon will give out that much for the old beats headphones.
 
Disclaimer that I haven't started M1 yet, but I am already loving my iPad Pro. The pencil is absolutely fantastic, and if you're at all a proponent of/utilize hand written notes, it really does capture of the overall feel of writing on paper while maintaining the benefits of digital note taking. I don't know that I can say it replaces the total functionality of a laptop (I do have an MBP to use with my iPad, though largely due to it being a requirement of my school), but even as an ancillary tool it's incredibly valuable.
 
Disclaimer that I haven't started M1 yet, but I am already loving my iPad Pro. The pencil is absolutely fantastic, and if you're at all a proponent of/utilize hand written notes, it really does capture of the overall feel of writing on paper while maintaining the benefits of digital note taking. I don't know that I can say it replaces the total functionality of a laptop (I do have an MBP to use with my iPad, though largely due to it being a requirement of my school), but even as an ancillary tool it's incredibly valuable.

What would you say the benefits of digital note taking are? I actually love the hard paper and pencil feeling, but I'm open to changing if there are benefits!
 
I have both--since getting my iPad Pro MBP has been collecting dust. Apple Pencil is amazing, way better inking and palm rejection etc than surface pro's. Also, the screen on iPad Pro is incredible. Great for Netflix. I say get the big one cause the extra real estate is invaluable assuming you're going to be annotating pdf's / power points. Download notability or one note and you can backup all your notes on Dropbox--sync to all your devices with iCloud, and upload any pdf/ PowerPoint to edit as you wish.
 
Disclaimer that I haven't started M1 yet, but I am already loving my iPad Pro. The pencil is absolutely fantastic, and if you're at all a proponent of/utilize hand written notes, it really does capture of the overall feel of writing on paper while maintaining the benefits of digital note taking. I don't know that I can say it replaces the total functionality of a laptop (I do have an MBP to use with my iPad, though largely due to it being a requirement of my school), but even as an ancillary tool it's incredibly valuable.
Does it have a "search" feature? I am an avid "pencil to paper" note taker that is super nervous about making the move over to electronic notes.
 
I figured I might as well just cough up an extra hundred bucks and get one that I can use an Apple Pencil with if I want.
Just want to point out....if you want to use the Apple pencil, you need an iPad pro. If you want to use the millions of other pen/stylus tools already available for any iPad (for as cheap as $10), you don't need the Pro.
 
Does it have a "search" feature? I am an avid "pencil to paper" note taker that is super nervous about making the move over to electronic notes.

Yes! It might be only certain apps because I don't think you can search handwritten notes in Notability, but I know the note taking app I used to use had that feature.
 
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I am an avid "pencil to paper" note taker that is super nervous about making the move over to electronic notes.

I felt the same well as you plus the cost was also a consideration. Perhaps like you I learn best by active learning so handwriting notes is best for me. However electronic tablets can be very helpful esp with the iPad Pro and Apple Pencil. variety is the spice of life and you can enhance your studies by adopting new tools to study the same content and material. Since repetition is the greatest teacher, use your pencil to paper approach for the first go around when tackling the content of whatever subject, then use your iPad Pro and Apple Pencil for the second or third go around.

My iPad Air 2 was very limiting for studies given my preferred learning methods. It had an old A8x processor and it kept freezing on me. So I traded up my iPad Air 2 for the 10.5” iPad Pro with Apple Pencil (use your educational discount!). My new iPad Pro 64GB has a screaming A10X processor and the screen real estate is just a smidgen bigger than my previous iPad Air 2. Now I can mark to my heart’s content my ebooks, (except Inkling), screen shots and board apps with legible, fine print handwritten notes with the Apple Pencil. Pages is especially good with the Apple Pencil.

The Apple Pencil cost $95 at the Apple Store. At first I thought it was ludicrous to pay that much for a “stylus”. Yet it is so much more than a stylus. The screen responds to the pencil without touching the screen. Plus it charges fully in 15 minutes. What a concept

I own an ancient Mac Book Pro that I bought refurbished and even with swapping the original harddrive that was on its last leg with a Samsung Solid State HD, I still rarely use my MBP.

Apple says the iPad Pro is the best tablet on the market. With the use of the Apple Pencil, I believe it. No regrets here from a “pencil to paper” note taker
 
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I love my MacBook Pro. That 15’ screen is everything I need, nothing else. I don’t take notes, I anki and use practice questions. If I write, it’s usually (well as of late), write within Pathoma or First Aid to help clarify concepts to myself, etc. I had the iPad Pro too (I used my moms), I hated it. No great reasoning just hated writing on it, coming from somebody who use to take notes religiously. Back in the day, when it was feasible.
 
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I love my MacBook Pro. That 15’ screen is everything I need, nothing else. I don’t take notes, I anki and use practice questions. If I write, it’s usually (well as of late), write within Pathoma or First Aid to help clarify concepts to myself, etc. I had the iPad Pro too (I used my moms), I hated it. No great reasoning just hated writing on it, coming from somebody who use to take notes religiously. Back in the day, when it was feasible.
 
I felt the same well as you plus the cost was also a consideration. Perhaps like you I learn best by active learning so handwriting notes is best for me. However electronic tablets can be very helpful esp with the iPad Pro and Apple Pencil. variety is the spice of life and you can enhance your studies by adopting new tools to study the same content and material. Since repetition is the greatest teacher, use your pencil to paper approach for the first go around when tackling the content of whatever subject, then use your iPad Pro and Apple Pencil for the second or third go around.

My iPad Air 2 was very limiting for studies given my preferred learning methods. It had an old A8x processor and it kept freezing on me. So I traded up my iPad Air 2 for the 10.5” iPad Pro with Apple Pencil (use your educational discount!). My new iPad Pro 64GB has a screaming A10X processor and the screen real estate is just a smidgen bigger than my previous iPad Air 2. Now I can mark to my heart’s content my ebooks, (except Inkling), screen shots and board apps with legible, fine print handwritten notes with the Apple Pencil. Pages is especially good with the Apple Pencil.

The Apple Pencil cost $95 at the Apple Store. At first I thought it was ludicrous to pay that much for a “stylus”. Yet it is so much more than a stylus. The screen responds to the pencil without touching the screen. Plus it charges fully in 15 minutes. What a concept

I own an ancient Mac Book Pro that I bought refurbished and even with swapping the original harddrive that was on its last leg with a Samsung Solid State HD, I still rarely use my MBP.

Apple says the iPad Pro is the best tablet on the market. With the use of the Apple Pencil, I believe it. No regrets here from a “pencil to paper” note taker
Thanks for the honest and in-depth reply! I'll have to go to the Apple store and try it out. Do you use Microsoft OneNote to import slides and notes?
 
Yes! It might be only certain apps because I don't think you can search handwritten notes in Notability, but I know the note taking app I used to use had that feature.
Any chance that OneNote has this feature? I really like that program.
 
Any chance that OneNote has this feature? I really like that program.
One note definitely does, but I’m not sure if it does it on the desktop version only. I use both so things end up getting indexed when they sync.

Another note taking program called GoodNotes also does and is probably my go to note taking program for handwritten notes. So does another called Nebo that maybe has the best handwriting recognition out there - literally reads my writing when I can’t even tell what I wrote. Notability still does not, but it remains the only one that does simultaneous audio recording.

I love the iPad Pro and Apple Pencil combo, but it still serves as an adjunct to a laptop. If I did a lot of work at home or in some fixed location, a large external monitor would be a great addition. I had friends who did this in med school - some even set them up and left them in their library study carels.
 
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Thanks for the honest and in-depth reply! I'll have to go to the Apple store and try it out. Do you use Microsoft OneNote to import slides and notes?

You are welcome

I do not use OneNote. I avoid anything that requires me to depend on cloud storage. I use iAnnotate which allows me to import images, docs and PDFs, and I can edit to my heart’s content. I synch all of my devices via USB cable and transfer documents via AirDrop. External harddrive is my backup for everything

You can buy the iPad Pro for a 30 day trial run. If you dont like it, Apple will give you a refund. Thats what the sales rep told me at the Apple Store and it sold me.

Give it a shot. You might like using both strategies for studies - having options is a blessing for eye strain and fatigue
 
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