The Best iPad for College Students, Public Betas Are Here

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Hey there!

I hope you’re having an amazing week so far! Here’s what I have for you in this edition:

• The Best iPad for College

• BAF Show: CrowdStrike, Apple's Public Betas, and More with Adam Jones

• Should You Install the Public Betas?

• The News Feed: Apple Maps on the Web, No CarPlay for Rivian and more

 🎒 THE BEST IPAD FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS

Following up from last edition where I shared what I believe is the best Mac for college, I want to dig into options for the iPad.

A bit of a backgrounder. For the last 14 years, I've worked in IT in higher education. During that time, my team has deployed more than 20,000 MacBooks and iPads to our students. As I mentioned in the last edition, my son will be added to the tally when he starts school this fall, and if he wasn’t getting a school-provided iPad, this is exactly what I’d get him.

🥇 MY TOP PICK: IPAD AIR

For most students, the iPad Air M2 is fantastic for college. Its M2 chip provides more power than most will ever need in an iPad, and it will be able to take advantage of Apple Intelligence features as they are released.

The iPad Air is available in two display sizes, 11" and 13", and four colors: Space Gray, Starlight, Purple, and Blue. Prices start at $549 in the Apple Education Store, and Apple's current Back to School promo will get you a solid $100 back as an Apple Gift Card.

Here's my recommended configuration and I’ll break down my reasoning below:

• iPad Air M2 11" display

• Wi-Fi

• 128GB Storage

• Apple Pencil Pro

• AppleCare+ Plan

Cost on Apple’s EDU store: $727

BREAKING DOWN THE DETAILS

11" Display

This display is big enough for most users and will save you about $200 over the 13" model. It's a nice compromise between size and cost. If you prefer the larger 13” display and it fits your budget, go ahead and upsize!

Wi-Fi Only

Most universities have thorough Wi-Fi coverage in learning spaces, study areas, residential halls, and many green spaces. Not getting the cellular option will save you $150, and you can always hot-spot with your phone in a pinch.

128GB Storage

If your iPad is a secondary device used for note-taking, content consumption, and a few games, this should be plenty of storage. You can use iCloud Drive and easily offload files from local storage to maintain ample free space using the storage optimization feature in iPadOS. If you need more storage and have the budget, you can upgrade to 256GB.

Apple Pencil Pro

When Apple released the Apple Pencil, it transformed the iPad experience for students. The Apple Pencil Pro is a fantastic writing instrument. It is excellent for marking up slides, annotating PDFs, and drawing and sketching. The convenient magnetic attachment means your Apple Pencil is always with you, charged and ready to go. 

AppleCare+

Like with the Mac, I highly recommend AppleCare+ for iPad for college students. Start with the 2-year plan to save a few bucks, and you can extend it at the end of the plan.

AppleCare+ will limit your out-of-pocket costs to either $29 or $99 per incident, depending on the issue. 

Plus, AppleCare+ for iPad extends coverage of your Apple Pencil (and Apple‑branded iPad keyboard if you have one), including accidental damage protection. 

NEED TO SPEND LESS?

Everyone's situation is unique. If my recommended configuration stretches your budget more than you're comfortable with, don't stress! Let's look at some ways to bring down the cost. Here are some adjustments you can make:

• Order your iPad without an Apple Pencil Pro and then order one later using the $100 Gift Card to offset the cost.

• Go with Apple Pencil (USB-C) instead of the Pro (saves $50).

• Take a look at Apple's Refurbished store. The items in it are previously owned but are certified by Apple and have a one-year warranty that you can extend with AppleCare+.

• If you want to save even more money, the 10th-generation iPad is an option. It does not meet the hardware requirements for Apple Intelligence, so if you want to use those features, you'll have to get the Air or iPad Pro. 

Don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions! And please share this with anyone you know who's looking to pick up an iPad for school. 

(If you’ve just subscribed recently or missed the last edition, you can find all the details on the Mac I recommend on https://bestmacforcollege.com.)

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🎙️ BASIC AF SHOW: CROWDSTRIKE, APPLE'S PUBLIC BETAS, AND MORE WITH ADAM JONES

Join us in this episode as we welcome Adam Jones, the innovative Founder and CEO of SkyBound Education. Topics include:

• The global IT outage caused by a faulty update from CrowdStrike.

• We explore Adam’s company, SkyBound Education, and highlight its exceptional work with school systems in Indiana.

• Adam shares his thoughts on his tech stack, including his experiences with the rabbit r1 pocket AI device and its progress since its rocky debut.

• We also discuss the Clicks Keyboard for iPhone, comparing Adam’s and Tom’s experiences.

• Lastly, Adam provides insights into the newly released Apple Public Betas.

Listen and follow the show in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, all the other podcast apps, as well as on YouTube and YouTube Music.

🤔 SHOULD YOU INSTALL THE PUBLIC BETAS?

Speaking of public betas. The Public Betas for macOS, iOS, iPadOS, watchOS have arrived, so should you install them? It depends. You know how when your phone glitches out, and you mumble under your breath how stupid and annoying that is? Beta life is kind of like that, but worse. More glitches, more odd things happening, apps crashing, excessive battery drain…all annoying and why I say most people should not install the public betas.

But, if you’re comfortable with all of that, know how to get out of a mess should one happen, your device isn’t mission critical, or you need to test these things as part of your work, Apple’s Beta Software Program can be found here, including an FAQ section on how to backup your device before installing any beta OS.

As for me, I’ll be installing the iOS 18 beta on my iPhone and the macOS beta on my work-issued MacBook Air, and that’s about it.

🗺️ APPLE MAPS NOW ON THE WEB

A nice surprise from Apple this week as it announced Apple Maps is now available on the web. I’ve never been a big fan of Google Maps so I’m happy to see this. It’s English only for now, and compatible with Safari and Chrome on Mac and iPad, as well as Chrome and Edge on Windows PCs. More languages and browsers to come later.

🚗 RIVIAN CEO: NO WAY TO CARPLAY

Rivian’s CEO wants the company to control the experience in its vehicles and has no plans to add support for CarPlay. I can understand that, but no CarPlay in a vehicle is a dealbreaker for me at this point.

🥽 MORE CONTENT ON THE WAY FOR VISION PRO

More immersive content is on the way for Apple Vision Pro. It's been a slow roll so far, but Apple has now outlined its plans for the coming months.

MY IPHONE DOESN’T JIGGLE, JIGGLE, BUT IT MAY FOLD

The Information reports Apple is working on a foldable iPhone that has a design similar to the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip and could be released as early as 2026.

🤔 SLIM IS IN?

Rumors continue to float around about a new iPhone model being dubbed iPhone 17 Slim by Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Read more at 9to5Mac.