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Don’t Buy an iPad or MacBook Until You Watch This (Students)

Nikias Molina

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vs Mac for students — which one should you actually buy in 2026? In this video, I compare the iPad and Mac side by side to help you decide which device is better for school, university, and everyday productivity. We’ll look at note-taking, multitasking, battery life, portability, accessories like the Apple Pencil and Magic Keyboard, and whether iPadOS can really replace macOS for serious student work. If you’re choosing between an iPad Air, iPad Pro, MacBook Air, or MacBook Pro for college, this is the honest breakdown you need before spending your money. By the end, you’ll know exactly which device fits your workflow, budget, and long-term goals as a student in the Apple ecosystem.

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00:00 iPad vs Mac
00:19 Pricing
02:06 Experience
03:19 Portability
04:41 Note Taking
06:34 Accessories
08:14 Affordable Accessories (Sponsor)
10:47 Reliability
12:07 Software
13:06 Cameras
14:14 Battery
14:36 Which One??
16:50 Subscribe

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20 Comments

@donaldstash 7 months ago

get both, if your budget doesn't allow, get the mac.

@owenqin4147 2 months ago

I’m a college student. I just bought my M4 iPad Air 13 inch today!

@ahmedabdellatief3310 7 months ago

Thanks for the great video.
As a doctor, I wish I have had an iPad when I was in medical school. Now post graduation, iPad Pro M1 12.9 has been amazing on my extensive textbook readings and pdf annotations.
I do appreciate that M4&M5 are much lighter. However, in my use case, no reason to upgrade.
So for me, IPad Pro M1 cellular with 512 GB with apple Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil 2 : that is very suitable to my use case.

@Tech4YourNeeds 7 months ago (edited)

I’d say it depends on what you’re studying. In the United States, you can buy an iPad and its accessories through a carrier that offers an installment payment plan, which lets you avoid paying the entire amount upfront. You can also buy third-party accessories, making it more affordable and manageable for your budget. I’m not sure if other countries offer installment payment plans.

@srmitch9260 5 months ago

I can definitely say, utilising both as a pair is literally an incredible experience. I wouldn’t and couldn’t go back. They complete each other perfectly.

@turtlepower4lee 7 months ago

I’m gonna wait for the iPad 12th Generation this year.

@ja586 7 months ago

I find it shocking that people bulk up their iPad to insane price heights (Macbook prices) in order to make it more Macbook and still come up hilariously short to what you can do with a Macbook. If you want the iPad to be a Mac, BUY a Mac. It's insane to upgrade to things like the expensive Apple keyboard (because THAT keyboard is the one that makes it feel more Apple-y and "Mac-like"). The only people who MIGHT have this issue are maybe people who draw ALOT and/or have a career/studying in animation and need the touch/apple pencil thing, but that is like .0001% of the people who do the whole "iPad Pro vs Mac, which one?" It's weird: the people that want their iPads to be Macs don't need a Mac for work or school (which is why they're looking at iPads as primary device) but yet want it to be a Macbook so bad, so they bulk it up to Mac prices and still can't run real computer program/softwares. This to me, is insane and not suppose to be a dilema.

@ClaireElise777 7 months ago

Love my iPad for my psychology classes, portability, and of course the apple pencil.

@Stevefan2014 7 months ago

congratulation Nikias 400k subs

@kylelopez629 7 months ago

For a second the túmbame for me was mom vs iPad

@Yusof.. 7 months ago

I purchased the iPad a16 last march for watching and playing and for school and it’s perfect

@K80-Moore 7 months ago

I’ve been using primarily my 11 inch M5 iPad Pro for my grad school coursework, I only need a laptop to run a single software for my exams. In the future I probably will get a MacBook for my job post-grad school though.

@JKsetsuna 7 months ago

ipadOS is a huge reason why i went from an ipad pro to a macbook
as a video editor and motion graphic designer, the software on ipadOS just is not good for what i am doing at all
sure the ipad has the apple pencil and a detachable keyboard but you are not taking into account all of the accessories you can do with a macbook and how you can dock it and use it as a full desktop computer at a desk seamlessly, you talk about how the ipad has the apple pencil without talking about how you can use a drawing tablet on the macbook that can be so much better
you dont talk about the software differences enough like how the ipad is limited to the app store and how most of the work related apps especially the creative work focused apps are just simply a lot worse than the apps availabe on macOS like photoshop, premiere pro, blender, final cut, etc
you only talk about the very basics and surface level of work

@gokkuladithyakarthikeyan9498 7 months ago (edited)

Nikias I love the Mac and the iPad for my business classes

@Smlworld2022 7 months ago

I got the m2 iPad Air in December 2024 I got the MacBook Air m4 in May both are useful the iPad for drawing and MacBook editing

@unstapld 7 months ago

Nikias i love these type of videos. As a student in college, thank you for showing the options and where it stands in 2026. Personally I love my iPad Pro 13 !

@AceLuceroTech 7 months ago

Great video!

@GuidoSantilli 7 months ago

Bravo.
Hai fatto un bel video.
Mi dispia che la traduzione automatica di youtube non mi abbia permesso di capire benissimo alcune parole.

@roserod64 7 months ago

I used to have the iPad air, the iPad Air for the iPad Air five and now I have the base model iPad Pro M5 which is awesome. I got it at the right time when iOS 26 came out..
I used to use a magic keyboard like five years ago, but now I got a cheaper one even cheaper than the Logitech, but it’s made out of the same material with a detachable keyboard to the iPad as it was intended to be used as an iPad because the magic keyboard didn’t allow me to separate the keyboard when I can’t do it. At times I would forget it was an iPad.. love your videos been watching them for years yeah just grew up.

@ChiguyGerry 7 months ago

Great vid!👏🏽 I’m in academia and would make the same recommendations… and include consideration for the person’s type of major/field of their program.