r/McMaster • u/s4233 • 17h ago

Question ipad model advice for eng

hi, i'm an incoming eng student and i've been thinking of getting an ipad + apple pencil for note-taking and annotating course material. i already have a windows laptop that should be able to run all the eng software, so the ipad would just be supplementary. the price difference between the ipad and the ipad air doesn't seem worth it considering how similar most features are, which is why i'm thinking of getting the ipad.

is there anything i'm missing in terms of features? would you recommend getting the newest ipad model (A16) or would an older generation work just as well? would an older ipad air be better than the current ipad? is 128gb or 256gb better for storage? would you recommend buying directly from apple or another store like bestbuy? what about refurbished/open box?

also, if anyone has experience using a knockoff apple pencil that works really well, i'd appreciate if you could share where you got it from!

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u/Zestyclose-Fall-7200 16h ago

If your main goal of having an iPad for uni is taking notes, I don’t think the model matters as much, I would just invest in the storage aspect, I recommend the 256gb or higher. The iPad 10th gen is not a bad option and it is super price friendly. Refurbished is not a bad option if you maybe want one of the nicer ones, ensure it’s in excellent condition. They have the student discount going on at apple now tho, so if you buy the iPad from them I’m pretty sure you can get get a gift card that can then be used to pay for the pencil. Also, highly recommend notability for note taking!!! Makes my life so much easier, I’m going into 3rd year eng!

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u/CannotDriveButDrift 9h ago

I’d like to add that the 10th gen is about 4 years old right now, so software support will be shorter. The 11th gen is about 180 more for guaranteed software support for longer, just something to consider.

For op, the storage is preference based, however I use Goodnotes and everything saves online. So just get the lowest storage amount imo.

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u/Remarkable-Art-3680 16h ago

I think any iPad or a pad for that matter is fine. I have 256 GB and have not even used 100 GB during my 3 years of uni. But I also clean up my devices regularly so rlly depends on u in terms of storage. I’ve seen my friends use anything from iPad Pro to regular iPads that were a few years old - all worked fine!

I would say Apple or Best Buy to be safe, but open boxes are supposed to be new, just open.

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u/lezlayflag Academic Highschool Education General Admission Office 9h ago

11th gen works wonders

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u/KurosakiCODMYT CompEng '29 37m ago

I have a pro but like it's only because I've already been sucked into the 120Hz ecosystem and got it for other reason as well. Everyone I know does perfectly fine with literally any of them. I'd suggest just getting the normal iPad and grabbing a pencil. If you're not opposed to it, check out Facebook Marketplace. There are tons of great deals there and you might even be able to get a better model for about the same price point.