A question that comes up occasionally — especially when students start heading off to college — is whether it’s wiser to buy an iPad or a MacBook as a primary computer. Apple likes to position the two as complementary products, but we all know that in the real world, people are often forced to choose between one or the other. That’s all the more true now that Apple has raised its prices to keep up with out-of-control memory costs.

In this guide, I’m going to concentrate on the perks of owning an iPad. Remember to spend time weighing the pros and cons of both form factors, however. Often, a MacBook is the smarter move, and it’ll be a hassle if you need to return an iPad and all its accessories.

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Apple

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The benefits of an iPad over a Mac

A touch- and stylus-friendly interface

Credit: Apple

If illustration, design, image editing, or handwritten notes are a primary focus for you, an iPad is an obvious choice. You can draw with a MacBook — but that requires an additional graphics tablet, whereas all an iPad needs is a compatible stylus (preferably from Apple, ESR, or Logitech). An Apple Pencil Pro is practically a must for professionals, owing to its extra control, although as of this writing it’s only compatible with the iPad Air, Pro, and Mini. Be sure to investigate available apps, while you’re at it. You’ll probably want apps like Procreate, Pixelmator, or Photoshop for commercial-quality projects.

For everyone else, touch is mostly just a nice convenience for certain in-app controls, like buttons and sliders. You’ll still want a keyboard case with a trackpad. Typing with the onscreen keyboard is terrible, and other functions — like copy and paste — are better with the precision of a trackpad or mouse.

Enhanced portability

Credit: Brydge

Even with a keyboard case, iPads are often lighter than a MacBook, and the best cases let you quickly remove your tablet to go as light as possible. The weight difference doesn’t matter much if you’re just carrying things in a bag or resting them on a desk — but if you’re interested in using a device on a couch, a plane, or train, an iPad will be far more flexible. An iPad can even serve as an e-reader, albeit one you’ll have to hold with two hands.

iPads can also go smaller than MacBooks if you buy an 11-inch model, but I’d strongly suggest a 13-inch Air or Pro for a primary machine. You can’t do substantial multitasking on an 11-inch display, which makes things work or school projects far more awkward.

A simplified interface

Being based around iPhone-style touch controls, the essentials of using an iPad are easy to pick up. They’re so simple that toddlers grasp them, and seniors intimidated by macOS or Windows might finally let their guard down. It does take time to learn all the nuances — but an iPad is ideal for anyone who wants to hit the ground running.

There is a big caveat here. Sometimes this simplicity goes too far, as the iPad versions of productivity apps can have reduced options versus their Mac counterparts. If there are features you’re counting on, you’ll have to verify that they’re available.

Tighter security

Another carryover from the iPhone is a heavily sandboxed OS. Apps can only interact with each other through a narrow set of frameworks, and in most countries, you can only install apps from the Apple App Store. That makes it extremely unlikely that you’ll deal with any viruses or spyware.

This does create some unwanted consequences. One reason some iPad apps have reduced functionality is that in the name of security, Apple limits what’s possible. Indeed, iPadOS is a lot less customizable than macOS — mods are completely off-limits on the App Store. It’s not a platform for power users, at least not outside the confines of an app’s boundaries.