3 Best MacBooks for Medical Students in 2024
From this article, you will know what are the best MacBooks for medical students you can buy and use in 2024.
A MacBook is probably one of the most popular choices for medical students when it comes to the laptop they use. After all, a MacBook is known to have excellent performance and high-quality design. As such, if they want to buy a new laptop to support their daily activities as students, many medical students might choose to buy a MacBook.
If you are a medical student who wants to buy a MacBook currently, however, you might be confused about which model you should buy. There are various models and specification details you can choose and you might want to know which one is the best one for a medical student to use. This is why Compute Expert has come up with its list of the best MacBooks for medical students that you may want to use as your MacBook-buying reference.
Want to know what are the MacBook models we think you should buy and use as a medical student? Let’s start digging into the list.
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MacBook Air M2 | |
 
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MacBook Air M1 | |
 
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MacBook Pro M1 13 |
Table of Contents:
What are the Best MacBooks for Medical Students?
Now, let’s see what we think are the best MacBook models for medical students to use. Using one of these MacBooks should give you the performance you need to do all the tasks and activities you have as a medical student.1. MacBook Air M2
MacBook Air M2 is the first MacBook we think you should consider buying. There are some upgrades you can get from this MacBook Air model compared to the M1 MacBook Air.
The performance, for us, is slightly better compared to the MacBook Air M1 model. It is said that the power management is better too but if we look at the battery life, they seem to be the same with 18 hours of usage capacity. Some tests say that MacBook Air M2 battery does slightly better compared to the M1 one, though.
Some noticeable differences are probably in the webcam, speakers, and screen size. MacBook Air M2 uses a 1080p camera compared to the 720p camera used by MacBook Air M1. The quality of the speakers is also improved in MacBook Air M2. As for the screen size, the MacBook Air M2 is slightly bigger at 13.6 inches compared to the 13.3-inch MacBook Air M1.
There is also the difference in the display technology as MacBook Air M1 uses a Retina display while the M2 uses a Liquid Retina display. Thus, this makes MacBook Air M2 have better display quality and accuracy, although the difference might not be too noticeable for casual observers.
For Air vs Pro, we think a medical student should use Air as it is generally more affordable and more portable which is suitable for the, usually, high mobility of students. The Air performance should be adequate too for medical student needs, especially with the Apple silicon chip in it, so there is no need to go for the Pro model for its better performance, in our opinion. For the MacBook Air M2 vs M1, we slightly prefer the M2 one as the differences between the two, we think, can be useful for medical students. The webcam and speaker upgrades can be good for online classes and video calls while the performance upgrade is good for future-proofing or when you need to do some taxing tasks for a laptop like image and video editing.
Thus, MacBook Air M2 is the first model we recommend for a medical student to buy.
Key Features
- Screen Size, Resolution: 13.6 inches, 2560 x 1664 pixels
- Processor: Apple M2 with speed up to 3.5 GHz
- RAM Capacity: 16GB
- Storage: 1TB SSD
- Battery Life (Estimation): up to 18 hours of usage capacity
Pros
- Excellent work performance, better than the MacBook Air M1 or Intel-based MacBook Air
- Larger screen size than MacBook Air M1 for more viewport
- Sleek and lightweight
- Long-lasting battery
- Better webcam, microphones, and speakers than MacBook Air M1
- Better display quality than MacBook Air M1
- Two Thunderbolt 4 ports
- Comfortable keyboard to type on
Cons
- No USB-A, HDMI, and SD card reader ports
- Notched display
2. MacBook Air M1
MacBook Air M1 is the next MacBook we recommend for a medical student to use. Although it is less good than the MacBook Air M2 model in some aspects, this is still an excellent MacBook Air with the Apple silicon chip in place.
The M1 chip in it makes it much faster than the Intel-based MacBook Air. Apple claims that it is multiple times faster in terms of CPU, GPU, and machine learning processes. The power management is also much better and, thus, produces long battery life with up to 18 hours of usage capacity.
We pick the model with 16GB RAM in it for better multitasking and performance when you need to work on your software and files. The relatively large RAM capacity should prove useful for future proofing too as you cannot upgrade the RAM capacity in a MacBook. As for the storage capacity, 512GB SSD should be plenty to store your files internally.
As with the MacBook Air M2, this MacBook model also has two Thunderbolt 4 ports for fast data transfer, in and out. All in all, this MacBook Air M1 can also be a nice choice for the MacBook you use as a medical student.
Key Features
- Screen Size, Resolution: 13.3 inches, 2560 x 1600 pixels
- Processor: Apple M1 with speed up to 3.2 GHz
- RAM Capacity: 16GB
- Storage: 512GB SSD
- Battery Life (Estimation): up to 18 hours of usage capacity
Pros
- Excellent work performance
- Sleek and lightweight
- Long-lasting battery
- Good display quality
- Two Thunderbolt 4 ports
- Comfortable keyboard to type on
Cons
- No USB-A, HDMI, and SD card reader ports
- Notched display
3. MacBook Pro M1 13
MacBook Pro M1 13 is the model we recommend if you prefer a MacBook Pro to a MacBook Air. It is fast and should be more than capable to handle the tasks that usually need to be done by medical students.
In terms of overall performance, the M1 Pro chip in this MacBook Pro model is slightly better compared to the M2 chip in the MacBook Air. Thus, it should be more than enough to run all the software and files you need to use. The 16GB RAM in this model we choose should also give you room to work more flexibly.
The battery life of this MacBook is slightly better too than our two previous MacBook Airs, with the estimation of up to 20 hours of normal usage capacity. Using it for 1-2 days without charging should be easy and not give you too much concern about how much battery is left. When you need to connect to a Wi-Fi network to do your activities online, there is Wi-Fi 6 technology to let you get optimum internet connection speed.
Want a MacBook Pro model that can support your activities as a medical student excellently? Consider buying this MacBook Pro M1 13 laptop.
Key Features
- Screen Size, Resolution: 13.3 inches, 2560 x 1600 pixels
- Processor: Apple M1 Pro with speed up to 3.2 GHz
- RAM Capacity: 16GB
- Storage: 512GB SSD
- Battery Life (Estimation): up to 20 hours of usage capacity
Pros
- Excellent performance, better than MacBook Air M1 and M2
- Sleek design
- Long-lasting battery
- Two Thunderbolt 4 ports
- Comfortable keyboard to type on
Cons
- No USB-A, HDMI, and SD card reader ports
- Slightly heavier than MacBook Air M1 and M2
What are the Things We Should Consider When We Want to Buy a MacBook for a Medical Student to Use?
Here are the things we think you should consider when you want to buy a MacBook to support the activities of a medical student.- Processor. A MacBook with the new Apple silicon chip in it seems to have much better performance than a MacBook with an Intel processor. Thus, we recommend you buy an Apple silicon chip MacBook (M1 or M2 model)
- RAM capacity. Although an 8GB RAM MacBook is already good, especially with an Apple silicon chip in it, we recommend you buy a MacBook with 16GB RAM. The reason is for better future proofing as you cannot upgrade the RAM capacity of the MacBook you buy later and you might intend to use your MacBook for some years. Moreover, 16GB RAM allows you more room to maneuvere in terms of the software you can use and the number of windows you can open simultaneously without noticeable lag
- Model. We recommend a medical student use a MacBook Air instead of a MacBook Pro. The reason is a MacBook Air is more portable, generally more affordable, and we think the performance level of a MacBook Air is adequate for the needs of a medical student
- Screen size. We recommend medical students buy a MacBook with a size of 13-14 inches for portability reasons as medical students may often need to bring their MacBooks around to use for their activities and classes
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Is MacBook Air M1 Good for Medical Students?
Yes, a MacBook Air M1 should be good for medical students. However, if you want better performance and specifications with the same level of portability, we suggest you buy a MacBook Air M2 instead.Is MacBook Air or MacBook Pro Better for Medical Students?
We think a MacBook Air is better for medical students to buy and use than a MacBook Pro. The reasons are that a MacBook Air is more portable, generally more affordable, and has enough performance level for typical medical student needs.Wrap Up
When we want to buy a new MacBook, we may want one that can support the activities of a medical student optimally. However, we may be confused about which MacBook to buy and use from the model and specification choices available out there. This is why Compute Expert has come up with its list of the best MacBooks for medical students to help you.In summary, here are three MacBooks we think should be the best for medical students.
We hope our list can help you buy the best MacBook for you to use!
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