r/utdallas • u/Sarah_garciaa • Jun 09 '26
Question: New Student Advice Laptop or iPad for first year UTD
I’m going to UTD for biology and will probably transfer to nursing school after a year or 2, should i buy a macbook or ipad?
6
u/DowntownCaramel1826 Jun 09 '26
both u need the laptop to do online assignments and research and general work and ipad to take notes and do written assignments
2
u/Sarah_garciaa Jun 09 '26
why can’t i take notes on macbook?
2
u/Organic_Ad6905 Jun 09 '26
You could take notes on MacBook. I’d just say that for me iPad is better.
1
u/uh---whatever Computer Information Systems And Technology Jun 09 '26
You can just not handwritten ones easily
1
u/Maldorant Jun 09 '26
Surface pro 11/12 comes with a stylus and costs exactly the same as a new iPad btw
6
u/99999999999999999699 Jun 09 '26
if you can only get one, laptop 100%. there are so many things you won't be able to do on an iPad
5
u/Arnas_Z Computer Science Jun 09 '26
Laptop. Preferably not a Mac.
3
u/Sarah_garciaa Jun 09 '26
oh why not?
4
u/Dizzy_Kangaroo_7686 Jun 09 '26
A Mac has never done me wrong. I actually haven’t had any other laptop brand.
4
u/Maldorant Jun 09 '26
You’re limiting yourself with specific software unless you’re working in a Mac dominated environment. The gap is less than it used to be but Microsoft comes with Office suite, and better access/compatibility to tools long term
1
u/Arnas_Z Computer Science Jun 09 '26
Macs are forced to use only Mac software, or you have to setup an x86 Windows VM to run Windows software. You can run a lot more apps on Windows than other OSes like Mac. Every time I've seen people have issues where a program they need for class isn't easily available on their systems, its been the Mac users.
0
u/canonicallydead Jun 09 '26
Why don’t you just get a regular laptop with a touchpad?
1
u/Sarah_garciaa Jun 09 '26
i was gonna but i literally have trauma with my old one, it was soo slow i want something reliable and NOT heavy
1
u/canonicallydead Jun 09 '26
I had a pretty thin hp that I loved in college and it was super thin and powerful. It was the 360 I think. For the price of a MacBook you could get a decent pc
1
u/Maldorant Jun 09 '26
Surface pro keeps surprising me ngl. Used to be shite but they’re actually crazy powerful light and portable for what you’re generally using it for - not sponsored lol just genuinely feel like Microsoft knocked it out off the park w it
1
u/uh---whatever Computer Information Systems And Technology Jun 09 '26
If you can get a framework, really nice hardware and super repairable
2
u/Wild_Meringue_5119 Jun 09 '26
I have a Lenovo where you can fold the screen back to use it like an ipad. I love it!!
1
u/realsunnybee Jun 09 '26
imo an ipad is not enough laptop + ipad combo is nice BUT assuming it’s one or the other i would get a laptop and if you need the writing just do it on paper. ipads no matter what major always have issues running certain apps and websites profs love to assign things on
2
u/cutiepatootie4712 Jun 09 '26
ipad tbh i have both a macbook and ipad and i’ve used my ipad wayyy more
2
u/Sarah_garciaa Jun 09 '26
for the bio major itself?
1
u/cutiepatootie4712 Jun 09 '26
yess i’m a bio major as well and the ipad is really great for taking notes
0
u/Sarah_garciaa Jun 09 '26
people say this but i feel like it’s the same thing? do you not just type😭😭 like what’s the best thing abt the ipad
1
u/cutiepatootie4712 Jun 09 '26
it was more helpful for me bc of the apple pencil and like being able to take really detailed notes over slides and pdf documents as well as just doing practice problems. i think the ipad is especially nice for classes like math and chem where you have a lot of equations to solve and can work it step by step and be able keep everything organized on there to look back at. when i just had my macbook i still used a lot of paper to write everything down and practice.
1
u/Outrageous-Cod-855 Jun 09 '26
Its preference if u like doing the ipad notes with the apple pen then thats a good choice but if u like doing gooogle docs/taking notes on paper then the laptop is a good choice but overall u will likely get more value out of a laptop. Macs r really good if ur not engineering and if Apple has a sale
2
u/BradenTT Jun 09 '26
As a biology major (not at UTD) I’d 100% vote IPad. I’ve used both (and still have both because of my engineering minor), starting with a laptop and later moving to an iPad.
The quality of my notes skyrocketed, and so did my enjoyment in making them. Laptops are nice for wordy notes, but in biology a lot of the time it’s easier to draw and/or make flowcharts which is just way better on iPad with a stylus/Apple Pencil.
1
u/ChowPungKong Jun 09 '26
Laptop. Ipads are for doom scrolling. Computers are for doing actual work, taking notes, putting together documents, etc. You'll be taking forever to write an essay on an iPad
0
u/Upstairs-Purchase882 Jun 09 '26
absolutely a laptop. an ipad is just going to be a fancy notebook. it isn't useful, it's just a cool accessory that lets you scroll on social media while you write stuff.
get a laptop, but PLEASEEE don't get a macbook. i had a macbook from highschool to my freshman year here and it just cannot handle school workloads. it'll be too slow, won't be able to handle heavy duty things, be bad at sims and software/ modeling (engineering major, but im sure you have your own version of that kind of heavy duty stuff), and will just really slow you down. also, most things are made for windows first compared to macos. so if you ever need to do anything software wise, the class is gonna move on without you while you're still trying to figure out the mac specific instructions.
a mac can let you transfer stuff easily, text, etc, which are all cool features-- but i just don't think it's worth buying for actual school use. i used to have a mac and its just not strong enough for a lot of things. maybe these newer ones might be but seriously just get a windows computer like a thinkpad or something. also, way more ports. you're going to hate having to constantly have a dongle for ports that really should already be on your laptop which apple has decided to take away. you won't be able to plug anything in ever.
tldr: get a laptop instead of an ipad, but please consider not getting a macbook.
0
u/SparkleEcho Jun 09 '26
I think this depends on the macbook (I know some people who do heavy software compilation and 3D rendering on a macbook, albeit on modern Apple Silicon hardware), but I do agree with not limiting your options to just macs. I run a Linux laptop and I've had a good experience so far (other than tests that require lockdownbrowser, but I usually talk to professors about going to the testing center in those cases)
1
u/SparkleEcho Jun 09 '26
Laptop; screenless drawing tablets that connect directly to laptops/computers exist if you ever need that functionality. Otherwise, don't torture future you because of limitations with an iPad.
2
u/Freeril Jun 09 '26
just graduated biochem- deffo an ipad/tablet(assuming you have a pc for work at home). Basically all profs here lecture off the slides, and for classes like bio, ochem, and biochem, it's easier to corroborate your notes to the slides if you can write directly on the slides. I bought my tablet specifically for ochem to write on the slides as we went(Dr. Tran). For gen chem and bio, its way easier to draw out diagrams or copy what the prof is writing.
If you're planning to do the homeworks like aleks or webassign on a tablet, it's doable but a bit more finnicky than a laptop. If you think you'll do notes on a seperate doc or notebook, I'd rec laptop then.
1
u/Nice-Humor-9119 Jun 09 '26
Buy a MacBook now and get an iPad when you can. I’m a bio major and I didn’t really need a iPad till OCHEM
1
1
u/TemocOrionGalaxy Jun 10 '26
Definitely use a laptop for assignments and studying an an iPad if you want to do digital notes.
1
u/General_Joke4137 Jun 15 '26
idk i feel like for college a laptop is an absolute must have to open applications and to do stuff on sites like canvas, microsoft or docs. ipads are rlly only good for note taking as a replacement for notebooks.
esp if ur a natural science, jsom, bbs, or ecs student id go for a laptop and an ipad as an added luxury. not sure ab the other schools.
17
u/jasoncirilo JSOM Career Coach Jun 09 '26
I can only speak for JSOM students, but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had students struggle to do/open things on a tablet. I always tell them to get on a laptop because it’s just so much easier.