Yeah that’s something I need to think about. I have a 3rd gen 11” iPad Pro with pencil she could use if necessary too.
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Overkill buying 14” mbp for college student premed?
- Thread starter Truefan31
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Yeah that’s something I need to think about. I have a 3rd gen 11” iPad Pro with pencil she could use if necessary too.
Good for her. We need more oncologists. I used to do work on systems for cancer drugs at a biopharma and we had some great oncologists that we worked with.
Definitely not an overkill.
Almost exactly what we purchased for our premed daughter as well ( we only got 512GB of storage ). The MacBook Air would have been fantastic as well. Not sure about the future proofing part. We trade them in at 3 years. Heck we get almost what we originally paid for it when selling used.
Should be more than fine, I went for an M1 MacBook Air with 1TB for the same reason, maximum cores and memory. Like my last two Macs it’ll last me for years.
My personal opinion is to steer away from the mba; while it is a good machine for a little more, you are getting a machine that is significantly better. The MBA doesn't make much sense in the lineup at its price. Of course, I am talking when they do another update to the 13 mbp. Personally, I would get the 14" pro no matter what, it is an expensive but very solid machine.
Also, pre-med courses will require programs that can use the extra ram (pointless to pay the apple tax to upgrade to 16gb from 8gb on the air) and processing power. Also, the 1tb storage is very nice since it is a machine you will keep for years.
The MBA canera is more than OK for Zoom calls and the battery easily lasts the whole day.
Also, a lot of the medical schools have gone the virtual machine route due to privacy concerns (patient information, medical software licensing, etc). Most of the med students / residents get access to their own Windows virtual machine (VCS) that can be accessed over the internet through Citrix or equivalent. All the student work (Word, presentations, research, patient data) will basically happen inside that virtual machine and all the info is stored in the Univeristy cloud and backed up on the University servers. Nothing should actually be stored on the personal laptops, especially patient related info due to privacy and safety concerns. This is emphasized multiple times by the University IT department. I think most of the medical schools will go this route because all the expensive software will be purchased by the University directly and made available to all the students and residents free of charge inside the Virtual Machine. Normally everything that a student needs will be available in the VCS and no additional software will need to be bought (Word, Mail, Powerpoint, SPSS, Medical Imaging software, etc)
So the laptop will basically serve as a point of access for the virtual machine and that's basically it when it comes to student work, all the heavy duty processing is done in the cloud. Even a Chromebook with a good screen could work just as well. An iPad 12.9" might work too, but I am not too sure, it all depends how the virtual machine it is accessed. Citrix on iPad was not good, I tried it on my end, the mouse support was terrible and it couldn't really be used to work with the Windows virtual machine.
For healthcare students, the times of personal laptops to be used for school has passed. The focus is on patient privacy and data security and it is much easier to have it all on the University servers and the students access it remotely. There have been cases when students lost their personal laptops and sensitive patient data was compromised, that is a huge liability issue for the Universities and Hospitals. The new norm is centralized cloud access + a remote machine to access it that must have an encrypted SSD.
Also, a lot of the medical schools have gone the virtual machine route due to privacy concerns (patient information, medical software licensing, etc). Most of the med students / residents get access to their own Windows virtual machine (VCS) that can be accessed over the internet through Citrix or equivalent. All the student work (Word, presentations, research, patient data) will basically happen inside that virtual machine and all the info is stored in the Univeristy cloud and backed up on the University servers. Nothing should actually be stored on the personal laptops, especially patient related info due to privacy and safety concerns. This is emphasized multiple times by the University IT department. I think most of the medical schools will go this route because all the expensive software will be purchased by the University directly and made available to all the students and residents free of charge inside the Virtual Machine. Normally everything that a student needs will be available in the VCS and no additional software will need to be bought (Word, Mail, Powerpoint, SPSS, Medical Imaging software, etc)
So the laptop will basically serve as a point of access for the virtual machine and that's basically it when it comes to student work, all the heavy duty processing is done in the cloud. Even a Chromebook with a good screen could work just as well. An iPad 12.9" might work too, but I am not too sure, it all depends how the virtual machine it is accessed. Citrix on iPad was not good, I tried it on my end, the mouse support was terrible and it couldn't really be used to work with the Windows virtual machine.
For healthcare students, the times of personal laptops to be used for school has passed. The focus is on patient privacy and data security and it is much easier to have it all on the University servers and the students access it remotely. There have been cases when students lost their personal laptops and sensitive patient data was compromised, that is a huge liability issue for the Universities and Hospitals. The new norm is centralized cloud access + a remote machine to access it that must have an encrypted SSD.
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Today's "overkill" Mac will probably be a "getting older but still fast enough to keep up" Mac 5 years in the future. The OS and software gets more demanding over time, so if you shoot a little higher than you need, performance-wise, you're buying usable life down the road. A MacBook Air is definitely quick enough today but by the time MacOS 17 comes out, it might be seriously lagging.
Considering you're staring down the barrel of "daughter at med school" costs, Im surprised you even noticed the price differences.
Honestly, she may value the lighter weight of the Air, and it should be good for five years of use. You can save at least 200 if you go refurbished. Just set an alert for the config you want.
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For the purpose of future-proofing, at least 16 GB memory and 1 Tb SSD are the minimum you should consider. Screen size is also important. Before I retired from a position as medical school faculty a decade ago, I wrote journal articles, textbooks, and educational software. For a while I tried using an Air (11 inch if memory serves) but I found it nearly impossible to have several app windows open (at a useful size) at the same time and I found that terribly limiting. I eventually resolved to never to purchase a work laptop with less than a 15 inch screen. That said, the 14 inch MBPs now have screen sizes pretty close to what my old 15 inch rMBP had.
These days it seems many pre-meds are entering the application process for med school with at least some research publications. So, if your pre-med is likely to be doing research and writing it up, it probably behooves you to get her the Mac you describe from a screen size, memory, and storage standpoint. The computing power of the M1 Pro MBP may be a little overkill right now, depending on her choice of major, but rest of the specs are spot-on. And the machine will last her through her undergraduate education and, come her first year in med school, she'll still have a machine that can do the job for her. Go for it!!
These days it seems many pre-meds are entering the application process for med school with at least some research publications. So, if your pre-med is likely to be doing research and writing it up, it probably behooves you to get her the Mac you describe from a screen size, memory, and storage standpoint. The computing power of the M1 Pro MBP may be a little overkill right now, depending on her choice of major, but rest of the specs are spot-on. And the machine will last her through her undergraduate education and, come her first year in med school, she'll still have a machine that can do the job for her. Go for it!!
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I got my kid an air. and she just graduated engineering school Friday and didn't miss out on anything. They don't need power for anything at all... The new cheapest air is faster than my BTO top of the line 27" imac and about 10x faster than my older kids air, so even more true now as my 2nd kid is just about to start college... That's what I'll be getting her.
No, it's not. Although if you want to have best of the MBA world and MBP world, then the 13" does it.
If you need performance, get 14 pro.(lowest config of M1pro processor)
If you don't need much power or M1 is enough, consider if you need extra ports, 120hz promotion, future proof design, and money.
For all machines, select 16G ram, it speeds everything up.
If battery life is the biggggest concern, try the lower-end Macbook Pro with M1, it got 20hrs.
If you don't need much power or M1 is enough, consider if you need extra ports, 120hz promotion, future proof design, and money.
For all machines, select 16G ram, it speeds everything up.
If battery life is the biggggest concern, try the lower-end Macbook Pro with M1, it got 20hrs.
A large external screen is helpful when writing papers, reading articles side by side, etc., so that is a useful accessory to get besides the MBP. Often overlooked are productivity apps which can cost a bit - it is useful to automate certain workflows e.g. retrieving papers from databases, managing citations etc. Mac-based solutions e.g. DEVONthink can help in organising papers and other materials.
As someone who has recently completed medical school and residency, I value portability and battery life above all. The regular M1 processor is even overkill. I would recommend the 13" M1 MBP with 16GB of RAM. The battery life is incredible. When I was in college, I had a huge 15" windows laptop and regretted it when I saw all of my friends with 13" MacBooks that were far more portable. I bought a 13" MBP for medical school and residency. Use the extra money saved and buy her a nice 4K or 5K monitor. Far more useful.
I do admit I have a maxed out 14" MBP now as an attending physician but solely because I need to edit 45MP RAW files from my mirrorless camera in Lightroom. Without that requirement, I would have gone with the 13" or MacBook Air.
I do admit I have a maxed out 14" MBP now as an attending physician but solely because I need to edit 45MP RAW files from my mirrorless camera in Lightroom. Without that requirement, I would have gone with the 13" or MacBook Air.
Dont feel bad. I bought the 16" to do things like web browsing and media consumption. I value things like good build quality and a nice display.
Are you going to be frequently carrying the laptop around? If so, then perhaps returning it and waiting for the upcoming new MacBook Air would be a better choice due to less weight. Due to its significantly lighter weight, the MBA is more portable than the MBP. The current MBA has the option of 16GB RAM (16GB is maxed out) and a 1TB SSD (2TB is maxed out), so it's highly likely the upcoming MBA will have the same option.
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Both are great machines, you can't go wrong. One extra benefit of the Air is that it's a "tried and true" design, so less likely to have some unexpected issue (display for example) one year from now or 3 years from now. Also the fan-less design is sealed off so no failures due to dust down the road.
I would go MBA 16/1 with the option of a 4k external display, if/when lots of screen space is needed. The benefit of extreme portability is not to be underestimated for students.
Ultimately both are great, and once she's filled in on the details, it should be her choice.
I would go MBA 16/1 with the option of a 4k external display, if/when lots of screen space is needed. The benefit of extreme portability is not to be underestimated for students.
Ultimately both are great, and once she's filled in on the details, it should be her choice.
Definitely don't forget about the possibility of accidental damage or loss. Some sort of insurance coverage would seem to be appropriate. A friend's daughter, while at university, stood on her Apple laptop, which had been left on the floor (albeit when she was visiting home). She ended up with a Windows laptop replacement – and then the daughter's friend somehow managed to ruin that one. Got a MacBook Air after that.
Unfortunately it's far too easy to spill something (or someone else to do so), or to drop it, leave it somewhere by mistake, etc, no matter what age the laptop user, but perhaps more so when one is younger and a little more foolish/distracted?
And make sure she backs everything up regularly, so an external drive might be an additional purchase for dad?
I wish your daughter well.
Unfortunately it's far too easy to spill something (or someone else to do so), or to drop it, leave it somewhere by mistake, etc, no matter what age the laptop user, but perhaps more so when one is younger and a little more foolish/distracted?
And make sure she backs everything up regularly, so an external drive might be an additional purchase for dad?
I wish your daughter well.
It's so great today to be able to ask if a mid-range MacBook Pro is too overkill for a task. Even the base model is good enough for 85% of the tasks.
I remember when I was at university nearly 15 years ago, every MacBook Pro base model was underperforming ane it sucked to still pay a premium for it.
Go with it. I don't hink it's overkill, and it's better to pay too much for an overkill device than to pay a premium for an underperforming machine like I did. Just be extremely careful with it. I remember I was a bit nervous back then, especially because I carried it in the public bus.
I remember when I was at university nearly 15 years ago, every MacBook Pro base model was underperforming ane it sucked to still pay a premium for it.
Go with it. I don't hink it's overkill, and it's better to pay too much for an overkill device than to pay a premium for an underperforming machine like I did. Just be extremely careful with it. I remember I was a bit nervous back then, especially because I carried it in the public bus.