Macbook Pro or iPad Pro for University?

Which is why I specifically mentioned those in the sciences and engineering. I am a biologist who works with genomic data in toxicology. I have several iPads, Macs, Linux servers and a work provided Windows 10 laptop. I could not possible do my work with just an iPad. I could not possible have completed college nor graduate school in my field of science with just an iPad.

Writing complexly formatted technical papers where the data is coming from analytical programs, web tools, spreadsheets and stats programs, R and open source tools, while maintaining and building a reference library for those papers would be a nightmare to even think of doing on just an iPad. It would in fact, be impossible.

Most of my spreadsheets or word docs won’t even open on either of my iPad Pro’s - they are too large and far too complexly formatted to do so. I cannot run R or other stats packages in iOS. I cannot multitask when analysing data and writing it up. Trying to use web tools like genome browsers, and online databases in a tablet browser is awkward at best, impossible at worst.

Science and and engineering schools also often provide very powerful licensed analytical tools for their students. None of those will run on an iOS device, and for the few that do, the limitations of RAM alone often make an iOS device impractical for running them. More and more science and engineering departments are also moving to cloud based student and research resources, because even laptops and desktops either are inadequate, or not cost effective for the data they are working with.

I stand by what I wrote - if you’re pursuing a degree in any field of science or engineering, an ipad by itself will not work. We are well into the era of big data, and big data science with little tablets does not work.

P.S. I do love my iPads and they have proven highly valuable in my work, but not as a primary or sole tool. They are great companion devices to the other computing resources used in the sciences. But if you’re only buying one device for college and a science major, it shouldn’t be an iPad only.

An iPad Pro is not a replacement for a full fledged preemptive multitasking operating system and computer. The limitations become obvious quickly. Even doing something as straightforward as writing a technical paper and using a reference manager app while doing so quickly becomes awkward at the least, and impossible at the worst on an iPad. Trying to write a technical paper on an iPad is a nightmare - when you need a high end word processor and are generating data, figures, plots and so forth from multiple programs to include, the limitations of iOS will have you screaming at the dorm walls. And no iPad handles very large or complex word processing files or spreadsheets well - that’s an inherent limitation of available device RAM and the iOS apps available for those sorts of files.

I would never recommend only an iPad Pro for anyone going to college, at least in any degree program in any field of science, medicine or engineering. An iPad Pro would make a great compliment to a desktop or laptop for your needs, but it won’t serve well as a primary or only device.

The issue is the school’s pay tens or more thousands of dollars for floating licenses for things like Matlab and SAS. Those floating licenses will not work for anything in iOS. UNC’s school of public health, for example, requires that all students have a laptop running Windows 10 (they have other minimum requirements for RAM and cpu if any of your courses require you to use SAS). They only pay for Windows floating licenses for SAS.

Even if they allowed people to use an iOS device, the databases they license or have open source access, and the data sets their students get assigned, would not open in an iPad - the files are far too large.

In fields like public health, genomics, toxicology and other science and engineering disciplines, students are often accessing and using files that are in the gigabyte range, not megabyte. They need machines to parse and pull data from those files or databases.

P.S. A base Matlab license is pretty cheap, and pretty useless. You need to spend a lot more to get the tool packs and add-ones you need, But schools bulk licenses those for their students and include the required tool packs.

Thanks for that useful info! I think most science and engineering students will be doing a lot of work with MATLAB and similar apps. While access via an ipad is often possible, there are various limitations, and I'd definitely recommend they have a laptop or other full computer to give themselves the maximum compatibility with what their professors are expecting.

If this was any other major besides some series of engineering majors, I'd recommend a large capacity iPad Pro.

But, because your major is aeronautical enginnering, you are going to need really high end computing power and resource intensive software applications for that major.

So, I'd have to side with everyone else and state that you need to go for a MacBook Pro.

Good Luck to You!

I doubt that an iPad can run any of the advanced math and design software required for engineering. You might even find that some requires windows, which at least a mbp can also handle.

Michael,

You must be old school.

All you have to do is do a search in YouTube to see plenty of college level students using iPad Pros.

A lot for business and medical/psychology/pharmacology majors and some engineering disciplines like chemical engineering and some various sciences majors.

Basically education majors that do not need the full resources of a full blown laptop.

The iPad or iPad Pro seems to be working out fine for many of these students.

They can record the audio for class.

Many get their textbooks electronically ( PDFs or as Apple Books, Kindle Books ) to use on their iPad/iPad Pros.

Many can take quuizzes and tests electronically from their iPads.

For in-class slide presentations, the students can either get these slides in a document/PDF format or images or some students use the iPad’s rear camera to take pictures of the classroom slideshow presentation to be able to either add to a notes app for marking up or adding info to these images.

Lots of tedious college classwork can BE done and rather easily on an iPad Pro.

Many using the Apple Pencil or third party Bluetooth stylii on iPad/iPad Pros to take handwritten notes in class, now.

Many notes apps have handwriting to text conversion, now, which is great!

Lots of apps for typing full college papers with various linked annotation features on an iPad, and submit these electronically, now, no problem.

Even for art and photography majors, like myself, iPad Pros are being used in college environments, in addition to doing both traditional art and digital art on a more powerful, sophisticated, full featured computer.

It is amazing to see what both high school and college students are doing with their iPads/iPad Pros, now.

Some really know how to get the most from these devices.

Even I have been surprised, at times, what students can do with an iPad/iPad Pro!

I would suggest the macbook, simply because it has the most flexibility.

Get it.

iPad Pro definitely out for technical majors.

+1 what Michael Black just said. I very much doubt the iOS App Store is going to stock the level of software an engineer will be using. Additionally you may find you have to run Windows software too which an iPad won't do. Sure, iPads are great for taking notes and recording stuff but still are not a replacement for a full computer which somebody in sciences or engineering will need.

For what you plan to do, the MacBook is the only way to go.

What about MATLAB for‎ iOS?

MATLAB Mobile by Math works

MATLAB Mobile on the App Store