Back to Uni with Apple
Whether you are a first-year student or a seasoned veteran of the campus looking to upgrade your everyday carry, this list will help you to find your perfect setup.
In just a few weeks, the fall semester at most major colleges and universities will start. And while the last year of studying was heavily influenced by the Covid-19 pandemic, many students, me included, look forward to seeing campuses buzz again with students rushing to lectures or recovering from the previous nights’ party.
The hopefully revitalized student life is one of the things I look forward to the most when the semester begins, and it is not just me, many of my fellow students are excited to get back on campus. Accompanying them will be a wide variety of laptops, tablets, and other devices, hopefully proving useful in taking notes and summarizing seemingly endless textbook chapters.
After a year of studying and experiencing both, some in-person as well as many online lectures, I feel I have gathered a lot of experience in what to look for in the devices that should aid your studies.
However, before getting into the list, there are two important disclaimers I need to make. First of all, before you buy any devices, please make sure that they are compatible with your university’s requirements and capable of running all the programs you’ll need. Secondly, there are many great options for students’ devices, and a lot comes down to personal preference when choosing the right one, no matter if they run Windows or macOS. However, as I am much more familiar with Apple’s products and their pros and cons, this list will focus on these products.
Now, with the disclaimers out of the way, let’s get into my recommendations.
A perfect student setup
Rather than just plainly recommending devices, I believe it makes sense to first examine what I think is a perfect student setup.
In my opinion, the most crucial part of a student’s setup is the laptop. I personally see my laptop as the hub that sort of organizes the other peripheral devices that all together line up to form a perfect setup. However, I would be lost without the laptop in the center of that arrangement.
In my opinion, the laptop is the most integral part because it has the most capabilities and allows me to arrange everything to my liking. Furthermore, it is most likely the device with the most storage. Hence it will also serve as your central hub for all the documents, slides, and other digital data you’ll receive in relation to your studies.
While I am a firm believer that the laptop is indispensable in a student’s setup, my first year at university also showed me that having something to take digital handwritten notes on is very valuable. As Apple’s lineup does not include any two in one laptop or laptops with touch screens, the device that allows you to use a stylus is the iPad.
Hence, in my perfect student’s setup, an iPad also assumes a very valuable, sometimes even laptop-esque role. An iPad provides even more portability than any of Apple’s laptops, and some days you can even get away with just carrying the iPad to campus. Furthermore, I feel even though I am very productive while working from a laptop, using an iPad is way more fun.
While a laptop and an iPad are the foundations of a perfect setup, there are more peripherals that will significantly improve creature comfort, and they will help you get more done. First and foremost, a vital accessory is headphones.
I concluded that having a decent pair of headphones do not fall in the nice to have category but rather in the must-have category. Headphones are more than important whether to keep you awake with your favorite tunes while commuting to campus in the morning or as microphones on zoom calls or late night group projects.
The final piece to complete my perfect student setup is a mouse. While a mouse definitely falls in the nice to have category, I really came to appreciate it over my first year of studying.
To be clear, I do not mean a super portable mouse to take with you to campus, but one that sits on your desk, ready to assist you while back at your room, trying to finish the assignment before midnight.
Furthermore, of course, a smartphone is also something, in fact, even more, important than a laptop for most students. You’ll have a smartphone regardless if you’re studying or not. Hence, I won’t make any recommendations on this list.
The right devices for the Job
Now that it is clear what a perfect student setup is, let’s get into the right devices for the job.
Starting with the center of your setup, the laptop. While Apple has quite some laptops in their lineup, there are mainly two devices in the running, the 13" M1 MacBook Air and the 13" M1 MacBook Pro. The reason why these two devices should be atop your shortlist is their balance between performance and portability. Let’s get into the specs:
You’ll want to go for the M1 chip with 8 GPU cores as it is the best M1 processor you can currently have. The next option to choose from is the amount of RAM. RAM is essential if you’re doing many tasks simultaneously and leave a lot of apps running for a long time. However, if you’re a regular student, you’ll be pleased with the standard 8 GB of RAM.
So far, all the options you can select are identical for both the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro. Hence, you might wonder, what even is the difference between the devices?
First of all, their design. The MacBook Air has a wedge shape, sloping down towards the trackpad when closed, whereas the MacBook Pro is a slim rectangle with no slope. This slightly different size has an advantage, though. In addition, the MacBook Pro has an active cooling system with fans, while the MacBook Air does not.
Those two points are the significant difference between the devices. Hence, if you are also doing some work that puts a sustained heavy load on the processor, the active cooling of the MacBook Pro can make a real difference.
With the major differences cleared up, let’s get back to specs. Now it’s time to choose the amount of storage your device will have. In order to comfortably study and never worry about having enough storage, I would recommend going for 512 GB of storage. This is standard in the 8-core GPU version of the M1 MacBook Air, yet on the MacBook Pro, it is an upgrade.
Summarizing the above laid out specs, I would recommend going for the higher-end M1 chip (only an option for the MacBook Air), 8 GB of RAM, and 512 GB of storage. In this configuration, the MacBook Air is just 50$ cheaper than the MacBook Pro with 256 GB of storage, so if you fancy having an active cooling system, it is possible to work with the 256 GB as your storage. However, I would advise prioritizing storage over active cooling.
My device recommendation would be the MacBook Air, as it is even more portable than the MacBook Pro. Even though the MacBook Pro has three hours more battery life, according to Apple, the Battery life of the MacBook Air is also exceptional. It will easily last you a full day at Uni.
Turning the attention to the iPad, there are only two iPads that you should even consider. The iPad Air 4th generation and the 12.9" iPad Pro. First and foremost, if you do not need the big screen on the iPad, then the device you should get is the iPad Air.
You might wonder why I am so blunt while I was going in-depth about all the specs for the laptop. The reason is simple, the iPad Air 4 offers exceptional value for money, whereas the iPad Pros do not do that. The 11" iPad Pro is out of the race from the beginning because, as a student, you neither need a 120hz refresh rate on your display nor a lidar sensor.
Furthermore, the A14 chip in the iPad Air is still more than powerful enough for everything you want to do, so the M1 chip in the iPad does not provide more value than the A14. Hence, the only decision you’ll have to make is a 12.9" or 11" screen. As this decision also has quite significant financial implications, I heavily recommend going for the iPad Air 4.
Concerning the specs for the iPad, 64 GB is plenty for a semester or even a whole year of studying, while the 256 GB should last you for the entire duration of your studies. Furthermore, the cellular version is, in my opinion, unnecessary as most of the time, you’ll have WiFi you can connect to, or you just give your iPad a hotspot. Therefore, in order to keep the expenses a bit lower, my final recommendation would be: iPad Air 4th generation with 64 GB of storage in the WiFi version.
However, in order to get the most out of your iPad, you’ll need to get a stylus.
There are various good options out there, but I just recommend the Apple Pencil. Even though it is pricier than other options, it has the best integration and is the most simple to use.
Another accessory for the iPad that makes it a great companion for the campus is a keyboard cover. Even though you might think you already have a laptop, on lighter days, having a keyboard cover and just carrying the iPad is fantastic. Here, I would definitely opt for a product with a trackpad. Personally, I can recommend the Logitech Folio Touch as well as, of course, Apple’s Magic Keyboard. The massive difference between the two is the price and the design and that the Apple Keyboard has a charging port that allows you to charge and connect external drives or similar accessories.
After clarifying the main devices and their peripherals, let’s take a look at headphones. There are a ton of great headphones out there. However, in my opinion, there is one pair that makes sense, especially for students that are in the Apple ecosystem. The AirPods Pro. These earbuds have a decent sound quality for their size and come with a fantastic active noise canceling and transparency mode.
Furthermore, they are so deeply integrated into the Apple ecosystem that using them in connection with other Apple devices is easy and a joy to do. Finally, while the stand-alone price is steep, in connection with Apple’s discounts and promos for students, they are just 100$ extra if you also buy an iPad or a MacBook. In my opinion, these are the headphones to get as a student.
The last very important accessory is a mouse. As I said before, it is really helpful for skimming through documents and many other things that require a lot of cursor movement. Here I advise you to stay away from the Apple product, the Magic Mouse. While the design looks excellent, it is very unpractical. The charge port is on the table-facing side, making it impossible to charge and use at the same time.
My recommendation is the Logitech MX Master 3. It is the mouse to get stuff done. While it hasn’t a similarly sleek design, it has a ton of functionality with two programmable buttons that already have preset for most of the Apps you’ll use (Microsoft office, for example). While the mouse has many more features that make it even better, going in-depth would prolong this article too much, the mouse is so good.
Summary
Summarizing all the points as mentioned earlier, my student’s package recommendation looks the following:
- M1 MacBook Air, 8GB RAM, 512 GB storage
- iPad Air 4th Gen. 64 GB storage, WiFi with Apple Pencil and Logitech Folio Touch
- AirPods Pro
- Logitech MX Master 3
If you go for precisely this setup, you’ll have a long-lasting, future-proof setup that will significantly aid your studies. It is an excellent mix of performance, portability, and cost. It allows you to get everything done, from handwritten notes to extensive papers and neatly arranged PowerPoint presentations.
Final Tips
While there are many more great accessories and many more great Laptops, also from the Windows side, there are some things you should consider also. First of all, there are many used or refurbished laptops out there, and they can be significantly less expensive than their new counterparts. Of course, the feeling of getting a brand new laptop is fantastic. However, if you have to stretch your budget to the max, slightly used devices can be a perfect compromise.
A final choice that is pretty important but often gets overlooked with Apple products is Apple Care. The price tag on Apple Care isn’t small, but in my opinion, it is worth it. As chances of something happening to your device aren’t as small as those of a desktop computer, having Apple Care can be a nice safety blanket. Personally, I was more than happy I had it before because my laptop got knocked off a table and the screen then flickered, and rather than paying about 300 CHF, I just had it replaced for 99 CHF. Also, if you’re battery falls under 80% of its original capacity, it will be replaced for free.
Hence, even though it might seem pricy, Apple Care definitely has some sweet advantages for the worst case.
The last tip and the one I believe is the most important, no matter your setup or your devices, remember to enjoy your time at college or university. Even though not every campus will be filled with people due to Covid-19, and most will have some safety measures, enjoy your studies as much as you can.
As always, stay safe
Raffael
