MacBook vs iPad for MBBS – Which is Better for MBBS 1st year?

Hi everyone! I'm currently studying MBBS and trying to decide between getting a MacBook or an iPad to support my studies. I mostly use digital tools for reading textbooks, taking notes, attending online classes, and watching lectures.

For those who are also in med school – which device do you find more useful day-to-day? Is the iPad enough for everything, or do you still rely on a laptop?

Also, would it make sense to keep both devices, using one as a secondary tool? If anyone has tried that setup, I’d love to hear how it worked out for you.

Looking forward to your suggestions and experiences!

Reply 1

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Original post

by hnbbnnnn

Hi everyone! I'm currently studying MBBS and trying to decide between getting a MacBook or an iPad to support my studies. I mostly use digital tools for reading textbooks, taking notes, attending online classes, and watching lectures.
For those who are also in med school – which device do you find more useful day-to-day? Is the iPad enough for everything, or do you still rely on a laptop?
Also, would it make sense to keep both devices, using one as a secondary tool? If anyone has tried that setup, I’d love to hear how it worked out for you.
Looking forward to your suggestions and experiences!

Hello! @hnbbnnnn 🙂
I'm not a medicine student however I have had this discussion with some of my friends who do medicine so hopefully this helps!
There are pros and cons to both so it will depend on what you prioritise.
iPads can be better at taking notes because you can actually annotate notes directly from slides/pictures and this is more efficient than a MacBooks where you have to type. You still can annotate with MacBooks but it may be more time consuming. iPads are also more lightweight than MacBooks which is great for carrying them around during your placements.
However, MacBooks have a larger screen which is useful for splitting your screen to work on 2 things at once (e.g. notes and lecture slides). MacBooks also are more powerful and therefore you can run more things on them compared to iPads, and they will also have more storage.
If you have the option for both I'd recommend this as you can chose your device depending on your day and you can also use them together when studying. However if you had to chose one I'd personally recommend the MacBook as you can do more with it. Again, it does depend on what you prioritise and how you like to take notes!
Hope this helps, let me know if you have any questions! :smile: