iPad Air (for Students)

The iPad Air M2 (released in 2024) supports the Apple Pencil Pro, not the Apple Pencil 2. The Apple Pencil Pro adds features like barrel roll (rotate the barrel to change tool orientation), squeeze (to bring up tool palettes), and haptic feedback during interactions. It also supports Apple Pencil hover, which shows a preview of the tool before the tip touches the screen.

Paired with a Magic Keyboard or a third-party keyboard case, the iPad Air M2 handles most student tasks—web research, writing in Google Docs or Microsoft Word, note-taking in Notability or GoodNotes, and media consumption—very effectively. However, iPadOS limitations mean you cannot run full desktop applications like SPSS, Stata, or certain IDEs, and external monitor support is still constrained compared to macOS. For students in STEM fields requiring specialized software, a laptop remains the primary device.

The base 128GB configuration is sufficient for most students who primarily use cloud storage (Google Drive, iCloud) and do not store large video or media files locally. Students who plan to download many movies, record lengthy lecture videos, or use storage-intensive creative apps (Procreate, LumaFusion) should consider the 256GB model. The M2 Air is also available in 512GB and 1TB configurations, but these are rarely necessary for typical student use and significantly increase the price.

The M2 iPad Air starts at $599 for the 11-inch model, while the M4 iPad Pro starts at $999—a $400 gap that can fund a keyboard case and Apple Pencil. For most students, the M2 Air delivers virtually identical day-to-day performance since iPadOS rarely pushes either chip to its limits. The iPad Pro's advantages—a tandem OLED display, ProMotion 120Hz refresh rate, and Thunderbolt connectivity—are meaningful for creative professionals but not essential for coursework.