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Best iPad for students in 2024: Leisure and learning in one tablet
You’ll likely have tonnes of questions that need answering before you make your purchase, but luckily, we’ve done all the research for you and picked the best iPads to suit your college needs. You’ll still be able to connect it to keyboard covers with the smart connector at the bottom, and the camera on the front is a new landscape model.
For $150 less than the iPad Air, the only thing you’re really going to miss out on is the M1 chip and perhaps second-generation Apple pencil support. It’ll make pretty much everything you do with it look great, and is fantastic for reading digital texts for school, taking notes during class, and, in the post-lockdown era, watching prerecorded lectures.
There’s a new Magic keyboard accessory, and you can hook up an Apple Pencil first-generation to take those handwritten notes. Helpfully, the front camera has been shifted to the side of the device to make those weekly facetime calls in landscape mode a lot easier. It brought a new design to the line, with its bezel-less, edge-to-edge display and the M1 chip to a lower price point. It also features P3 and True Tone, so everything will look vibrant and colorful, while the oleophobic coating negates finger smudges. The main differences between the Air and the new Pro are the lack of ProMotion on the display, no Face ID, and a less impressive rear camera setup.
It may not have the newest hardware inside, but the A13 Bionic chip keeps things buzzing away nicely under the hood, and the two 64GB or 256GB storage options should be plenty for most. This also means no Touch ID on the front – but worry not, for Apple has simply shifted it to the top edge on the power/lock button. It’s one thing to look at Apple’s claims of “40% faster than the last model” with “80% more graphics performance”, but it’s also important to think about what this means for students and their workloads.
Whatever happens, the iPad Mini is going to smash through pretty much all but the heaviest workloads, dealing with paper writing, video watching, and even some light photo editing. Those photos you’ll be editing could well be from the little 12MP rear camera, which is more than capable of taking some fantastic shots.
The front camera is also 12MP and has a larger field of view for Center Stage, making those class meetings a little more visually appealing for everyone you’re talking to. There’s also support for Apple Pencil 2, so art students rejoice, and there are some really solid landscape speakers for when you fancy listening to some tunes or watching a spot of Severance. For doing normal, everyday college or school work, this is a lot, but it’s also going to last a long time, so you might not have to upgrade quite as much – spending more now may save you some money in the future. The rear cameras remain the same as from the previous model, with wide and ultrawide options, so you can take photos of all your documents, presentations, and other school work. The camera on the front of the device features Center Stage, so you’ll always be in the picture when you’re chatting with coursemates or watching online lectures and remotely joining study groups. Stage manager only works on M-chip-equipped iPads, and organizes your apps and windows as tiny screenshots along the left side of the screen, becoming more like a Mac or laptop than ever. 6. iPad Pro 12.9-inch Average Amazon review: ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ Specifications Display: 12.9-inch Liquid Retina, 1668 x 2388 Processor: Apple M2 Storage: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, 2TB RAM: 8GB, 16GB Rear Camera: 12MP Wide, 10MP Ultrawide, 3D LiDAR scanner Front Camera: 12MP Ultrawide Dimensions: 280.6 x 214.9 x 6.4mm Weight: 682g (WiFi), 685g (WiFi + Cellular) Today’s Best Deals View at Amazon View at Amazon Reasons to buy + It’s big! It’s big, with the largest screen of the whole range, powerful, with the laptop grade M2 chip, and portable with a very slim chassis. Our team of Apple experts have years of experience testing all kinds of tech and gadgets, so you can be sure our recommendations and criticisms are accurate and helpful.
iPad Pro (2022) vs. iPad Air (2022): Which Apple tablet is right for you?
The iPad Air is unlocked with a Touch ID sensor on the power button located on the edge of the tablet. The iPad Pros use Face ID for unlocking, which is more reliable and works significantly better.
It means your video feed will always show your face at a slight angle instead of directly in front.
Best iPad for students in 2024: Leisure and learning in one tablet
You’ll likely have tonnes of questions that need answering before you make your purchase, but luckily, we’ve done all the research for you and picked the best iPads to suit your college needs. You’ll still be able to connect it to keyboard covers with the smart connector at the bottom, and the camera on the front is a new landscape model.
For $150 less than the iPad Air, the only thing you’re really going to miss out on is the M1 chip and perhaps second-generation Apple pencil support. It’ll make pretty much everything you do with it look great, and is fantastic for reading digital texts for school, taking notes during class, and, in the post-lockdown era, watching prerecorded lectures.
There’s a new Magic keyboard accessory, and you can hook up an Apple Pencil first-generation to take those handwritten notes. Helpfully, the front camera has been shifted to the side of the device to make those weekly facetime calls in landscape mode a lot easier.
It brought a new design to the line, with its bezel-less, edge-to-edge display and the M1 chip to a lower price point. It also features P3 and True Tone, so everything will look vibrant and colorful, while the oleophobic coating negates finger smudges. The main differences between the Air and the new Pro are the lack of ProMotion on the display, no Face ID, and a less impressive rear camera setup.
It may not have the newest hardware inside, but the A13 Bionic chip keeps things buzzing away nicely under the hood, and the two 64GB or 256GB storage options should be plenty for most. This also means no Touch ID on the front – but worry not, for Apple has simply shifted it to the top edge on the power/lock button. It’s one thing to look at Apple’s claims of “40% faster than the last model” with “80% more graphics performance”, but it’s also important to think about what this means for students and their workloads.
Whatever happens, the iPad Mini is going to smash through pretty much all but the heaviest workloads, dealing with paper writing, video watching, and even some light photo editing. Those photos you’ll be editing could well be from the little 12MP rear camera, which is more than capable of taking some fantastic shots. The front camera is also 12MP and has a larger field of view for Center Stage, making those class meetings a little more visually appealing for everyone you’re talking to. There’s also support for Apple Pencil 2, so art students rejoice, and there are some really solid landscape speakers for when you fancy listening to some tunes or watching a spot of Severance.
For doing normal, everyday college or school work, this is a lot, but it’s also going to last a long time, so you might not have to upgrade quite as much – spending more now may save you some money in the future. The rear cameras remain the same as from the previous model, with wide and ultrawide options, so you can take photos of all your documents, presentations, and other school work.
The camera on the front of the device features Center Stage, so you’ll always be in the picture when you’re chatting with coursemates or watching online lectures and remotely joining study groups. Stage manager only works on M-chip-equipped iPads, and organizes your apps and windows as tiny screenshots along the left side of the screen, becoming more like a Mac or laptop than ever. 6. iPad Pro 12.9-inch Average Amazon review: ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ Specifications Display: 12.9-inch Liquid Retina, 1668 x 2388 Processor: Apple M2 Storage: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, 2TB RAM: 8GB, 16GB Rear Camera: 12MP Wide, 10MP Ultrawide, 3D LiDAR scanner Front Camera: 12MP Ultrawide Dimensions: 280.6 x 214.9 x 6.4mm Weight: 682g (WiFi), 685g (WiFi + Cellular) Today’s Best Deals View at Amazon View at Amazon Reasons to buy + It’s big!
It’s big, with the largest screen of the whole range, powerful, with the laptop grade M2 chip, and portable with a very slim chassis. Our team of Apple experts have years of experience testing all kinds of tech and gadgets, so you can be sure our recommendations and criticisms are accurate and helpful.
Which IPad should I buy as a Student
If you run out of internal storage for your documents, notes, photos and other data, you will forever struggle and become a source of frustration. Whilst I and others cannot cannot make definitive recommendations for your personal needs, objectively I would council against purchase of any iPad with any less than 256GB storage.
Only WiFi+Cellular models include GPS capabilities – which may impact any Apps or features that require accurate and consistent location data, such as Mapping.
The best iPad for students in 2024
Thanks to their thin and light designs, Apple’s range of tablets are ideal for carrying around campus, and if you pair them with some great peripherals, such as a keyboard or stylus, then you end up with a very flexible device that can be used for all sorts of tasks. Why you can trust Creative Bloq Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. The latest 12.9-inch iPad Pro is an absolute creative powerhouse with an M1 processor, laptop-size screen and storage options up to 2TB.
It’ll cope happily with all the popular games (although it could struggle with the latest heavyweight 3D titles), and you’ll be spoilt for choice with thousands of options available on the App Store.
When we were hands-on with it, we found it great for drawing, sketching and painting (if you can cope with the small display), and with iPadOS 15 it’s also a fantastic device for note-taking, which is especially useful for students. (You could use your finger or an ordinary stylus, but the lack of palm rejection means adopting an unnatural writing position; it’s fun to try but we wouldn’t recommend it for any length of time.)
Other models refresh at 60Hz, which is fine for most things, but it means a tiny but noticeable delay in seeing the results of your Pencil strokes. So if drawing and painting is your priority, we’d recommend the 11-inch iPad Pro for super-smooth strokes without the additional cost of the 12.9-inch model (although if you don’t mind paying extra then you’ll love that extra-large display). 06. iPad mini (5th Gen) The best iPad for younger students Our expert review: Average Amazon review: ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ Specifications Processor: A12 Bionic Display: 7.9-inch Retina, 2048×1536 Storage: 64GB to 256GB Camera: 8MP Wide camera Today’s Best Deals Check Amazon Reasons to buy + Perfect for young students + Great quality Reasons to avoid – Showing its age It’ll run all the creative and learning apps and games that kids will love, it has a great-quality camera for them to take snaps with, and with the money you save you could also invest in a first-gen Apple Pencil to get them drawing and sketching. Those iPad Pros powered by Apple’s M1 chip (the same found in new MacBooks) are pretty irresistible, but you’re going to pay for the privilege of owning one. As with the 12.9-inchers, there’s the lack of M1 power, no 5G capability, a lesser front-facing camera and storage options only go up to 1TB, but everything else – including the screen technology – is largely identical.
It still offers brilliant performance and build quality, but at a lower price than the newest iPad Pro models.
Which iPad is best for a college student?
all new iPads support the pencil if you are trying to save some money Also you don’t even need the Smart Keyboard if you aren’t planning on typing anything. If you want to spend not too much more you could go for the iPad Air which is a slight upgrade with a bigger screen, more standard storage and a more powerful processor
The best iPad for students 2024: Apple tablets for school, college or university
This way, having one of the best iPads means you can replace several different devices with one, saving you money as well as reducing the clutter in those somewhat compact student flats. Apple’s basic iPad has reached its tenth generation since its launch in 2010, and has gained an extra inch in screen diagonal over its 9.7in predecessors.
Its A14 Bionic chip comes from the iPhone 12, so is lagging a bit behind the extreme cutting edge, but it still provides plenty of processing oomph for office documents, a little light photo editing, games and media consumption. The M2 chip in this model is the same one you find in MacBooks, meaning there’s more than enough computing power on offer for photo and video editing, games, or whatever else you want to do with it.
With an A-series chip and a Lightning port in place of the USB Type-C seen on the rest of the range (plus a home button too), you’re not going to be connecting this tablet up to external monitors as easily, but with the right stand, and a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard, it can still be pressed into service for writing essays. With a price point that’s in the same area as Android tablet devices like the OnePlus Pad and Samsung Galaxy S6 Lite, however, it’s up against some strict competition and is perhaps best for die-hard Apple fans who don’t want to shell out any more cash.
4: iPad mini Best iPad for pure portability Average Amazon review: ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ Specifications CPU: A15 Bionic RAM: 4GB Storage: 64 or 256GB Screen: 8.3in LED backlit IPS touchscreen, 2266 x 1488px Size: 195.4 x 195.4 x 6.3 mm Weight: 293g (Wi-Fi only), 297g (Wi-Fi + cellular) Today’s Best Deals View at Target View at Target Check Amazon Reasons to buy + Perfect portability Reasons to avoid – Perhaps too small for work This last point probably doesn’t matter unless you can see yourself connecting it to external SSD drives that can take advantage of faster transfer rates. 6: iPad Pro 11in M2 A power iPad without the price of the 12.9in Pro Average Amazon review: ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ Specifications CPU: M2 RAM: 8GB up to 128GB storage, 16GB on 1TB and 2TB models Storage: 128, 256, 512GB, 1TB, 2TB Screen: 11in LED backlit IPS, 2388 x 1668px Size: 247.6 x 178.5 x 5.9mm Weight: 466g (Wi-Fi only), 468g (Wi-Fi + Cellular) Today’s Best Deals View at Target View at Amazon View at Verizon Wireless Reasons to buy + Top-level processor + Useful size Reasons to avoid – Screen not as nice as the 12.9in model It wasn’t too long ago that Apple was selling MacBooks with 11in screens, and coupled with a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, or one of the best iPad docks, you’ve got a supremely portable work machine.
Best iPad for students
My iPad is one of the best devices I have used for college to date, making it easy to take notes, mark up PDFs, and watch online classes. The majority of iPads will work for most students, however, it ultimately comes down to your budget and what features are important to you.
The outdated design shouldn’t deter you as the device is plenty capable for internet browsing, video calls with Center Stage, note-taking, gaming, drawing, and much more. The ninth-generation iPad is the best for college students on a budget and who purely want a tablet for non-extensive note-taking. Basically looking like a smaller iPad Air, its 8.3-inch Liquid Retina display makes it the perfect device for those who are on the go. Its small stature doesn’t make it the most popular choice among students, however, it’s easy to fit in a backpack and works with Bluetooth keyboards.
The mini is the best iPad for college students who are always on-the-go and want a device that doesn’t take up much space. When I worked in Apple retail, the Air was the most popular iPad we sold to students.
YouTuber TechGearTalk ran a battery-life test late last year with each of Apple’s current iPads.
The iPad Air is good for most students, especially those looking for a larger, laminated display and a newer design.
The iPad Air offers either 64GB or 256GB of storage, a 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display, and even Center Stage for video calls. Storage sizes range from 128GB to 2TB, and both models offer Center Stage for video calls and Face ID.
Each year in the summer, Apple holds a special education promotion in store and online.
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