Is there any software that can take handwritten equations (say on an ipad or ocr) and convert them to latex reliably because there’s no way I’m going to try and learn those incantations.
But I found that once I learned the LaTeX syntax, I can type equations faster than I can write them by hand, especially if they're complex. This is because most equations have lots of repeated elements (for example, when say, you're rearranging an equation), and I can copy and paste faster than I can rewrite them. I could take notes in LaTeX faster than a professor could write them on the chalk board.
I wrote my dissertation in LaTeX, and while I hate the debugging (errors are arcane), learning the "incantations" are really the least of one's worries. I wouldn't be put off by that.