Should You Get a Laptop or an iPad for Medical School?

I get asked this question a lot: “I’m starting medical school, should I get a laptop or an iPad?” Well, it’s a difficult question to answer, because we’re all such different people. But I’ll try to explain my reasoning for my choice, which is 100% laptop first.

For this post, it’s so important to remember that this is a very personal choice, and so this is purely my opinion. I am by no means an expert, and may be old-fashioned in certain things (i.e. my dislike of touchscreen laptops).

Disclaimer: I do have an iPad, specifically an iPad Pro 12.9″ that I really like. So the aim of this post is to explain why, if you only have money for one, to splurge on a nice laptop rather than an iPad.

My Computer

I got my MacBook Pro (2015) the summer before medical school. I’m not being dramatic when I say, it was the best decision I made. I’d worked every summer in college and was finally able to afford a new laptop (well, refurbished), and every dime I spent on this MacBook was worth it.

My answer is very subjective – I’m a laptop person. I love my laptop. I’m mildly techy (not super techy saavy, but also not completely inept). I also have an insatiable love of gadgets, so when the iPad Pro came out, I decided to get one. I loved the iPad, but despite what Apple wants us to believe, it could never – ever – replace my laptop.

So, why?

There are many things that you simply cannot do on an iPad. (Note: there may be workarounds for a lot of these things that I don’t know about, but the thing is, I don’t want to have to look for workarounds for things that I consider basic functions of my main gadget.)

1. File storage: I put everything on my laptop. I have hundreds of PDFs, videos, lectures, audio files, photos and assorted files from all my assignments since the start of med school. I connect it to an external hard-drive when I want to put something into “long-term” storage, and you can’t do that with an iPad (to my knowledge).
   1. They released the new ‘files’ folder on the iPad, but it’s much harder to navigate than a laptop’s files.
2. Apps: on an iPad, you have to work through ‘apps,’ and if there’s not an app for something you want, you simply can’t do it. There are a ton of programs that don’t exist as apps (yet?), and many times, even if they do, they’re not as powerful.
   1. Anki Flashcards is a prime example. Not only does the iOS version cost money, but there’s not NEARLY the functionality of it as you’d have on a computer. (P.S. watch my video on why Anki is so amazing HERE.)
3. “Mobile” version: things like Flash doesn’t always work on the iPad. iPad automatically opens the “mobile” version of a website, rather than the desktop version, which I find frustrating. Oh, and video games? Also not possible (unless it’s an app, of course).
4. Lacks basic functionality: there are some simple things that iPads make much harder and/or near impossible – for example, you can’t speed up videos on VLC or watch something in VLC with subtitles. You can’t download a ton of different file types, and you can’t unzip files. This makes many daily tasks really difficult.
5. Touchscreen vs. mouse: personally, I think touchscreens are exhausting — I don’t want to hold my arm up for every small gesture. So if my iPad is attached to a folio keyboard, I’d have to take my hand off the keyboard for every motion (because there’s no trackpad, and limited keyboard shortcuts).

But the iPadOS?

Apple is rolling out the new iPadOS, and they say that it’ll finally be able to replace a laptop. I’ve downloaded the beta version of the iPadOS, and I’m really not convinced. It’s not final yet, and I’m sure I haven’t fiddled with the new iPadOS to make a totally educated statement. But by the looks of it, it doesn’t come close to fixing the issues I listed above.

Many people say that if all you do on your tech is surf the web, watch movies and read webpages, then yes, an iPad could replace a laptop. But I’d like to challenge that and say: don’t strive to be one of those people who is content to be tech-inept. Why would you be content with making no use of the amazing (and expensive?) piece of technology in front of you? A computer (and the skills to use one) can make your life much simpler. And don’t worry, if you’re not tech-saavy, there are a ton of ways you can learn!

The aim of this post is to explain why I think you should buy a laptop if you only have the money for one piece of technology right now. An iPad is incredible as an accessory to my laptop (see below), but it would never be my primary piece of technology.

That being said: I definitely know people who use their iPad as their main gadget. I don’t know how they do it (I’d genuinely rip out all my hair, I think), but they seem more than happy with their choice. So it’s doable, and if that’s what you want, then by all means, go for it! (*Although I did notice that one of them had an old MacBook at home for all the USMLE things like UWorld, NBMEs, etc.)

For this post, I tried to remember all the other little things that are impossible to do on an iPad, but it’s hard to put them into words. I hope I’ve summed it up nicely, and now, to end on a good note, let’s talk about some of the things that are actually amazing about the iPad.

Things that are great about the iPad:

• APPLE PENCIL: this is indeed one of the most incredible aspects of an iPad. I would advise anyone against getting an iPad that isn’t Apple Pencil-compatible, because you’d be depriving yourself of one of the greatest features of the iPad – the ability to annotate nearly ANYTHING (image, textbook, PDF) and draw, paint, write with incredible agility.
• ART: I’m not an artist, but for a true artist, the functionality of apps like Vectornator, Procreate, etc. is unparalleled. They’re absolutely amazing apps, and even a newbie like me has been able to get the hang of Procreate enough to make my desktop wallpapers (you can find them here).
• MOBILE NET: It’s true that with an iPad, you can have LG/LTE connection, making it very usable on-the-go. BUT the thing is, I would never be able to pay for a phone AND an iPad monthly plan. So that doesn’t really help. And if I wanted to, I could always purchase mobile net for my laptop.
• PORTABILITY: iPads are very very portable, especially the 10.5″ one that I used to have (before it got stolen). But the second you add a case and a keyboard, it can get bulky. The 12.9″ one I have now is ENORMOUS, basically the size of my laptop, and honestly, taking my laptop lends me much more functionality at basically the same weight as the iPad+keyboard.

If you’re interested, I’d be happy to talk about all the wonderful ways you can use an iPad in medical school, so let me know in the comments below.

And if you disagree, I’d love to hear why!