New Delhi: Upgrades are integral part of our lives and as the last two years saw millions work from home, study and create, Apple has also enhanced its portfolio to address the new hybrid workforce/learning and a booming creators and gamers’ ecosystem in India and globally.
Everyone of us is now a content creator, thanks to the availability of several online apps/platforms, and the new iPad Air — which joins the powerful iPad Pro, the popular iPad (9th generation) and iPad mini — with Apple-designed M1 chip promises to deliver a massive leap in performance for all of us.
Will this be your go-to-device in the new hybrid normal? Let us dig out.
First and foremost, it is no denying the fact that with the breakthrough M1 chip and Ultra Wide front camera with Center Stage (for a more natural video conferencing experience), iPad Air is now more powerful, more capable, and simply more fun than ever.
With the M1 chip, the 8-core CPU delivers up to 60 per cent faster performance, and the 8-core GPU delivers up to 2x faster graphics performance compared to the previous iPad Air, says the company.
The outcome is outstanding while creating, gaming or regular work.
From editing multiple streams of 4K video, to playing graphics-intensive games, redesigning a room in 3D, and more realistic augmented reality (AR), the performance of M1 will enable you to do more than ever.
The new iPad Air with 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display comes in space grey, starlight, pink, purple, and new blue finishes.
The display offers 3.8 million pixels and advanced technologies, including 500 nits of brightness, full lamination, a P3 wide colour gamut, True Tone and an anti-reflective screen coating.
Combined with the Liquid Retina display, landscape stereo speakers in iPad Air deliver wide stereo sound for a great movie-viewing experience.
Touch ID is built into the top button of iPad Air, delivering the same ease of use and secure authentication users know and love to unlock iPad Air, log in to apps, or use Apple Pay.
The Ultra Wide 12MP front camera with Center Stage automatically pans to keep users in view as they move around.
The 12MP Wide camera at the rear will let you click sharp photos and 4K video, scan documents, and enjoy augmented reality (AR) experiences.
iPad Air houses a USB-C port which is now up to 2x faster than the previous generation, with data transfers up to 10Gbps.
The port connects iPad Air to USB-C accessories, including cameras, external storage, and displays with up to 6K resolution.
The device comes with Apple Pencil (2nd generation). This time, Apple Pencil delivers pixel-perfect precision and imperceptible lag, making writing as easy and natural as using pen and paper. The Pencil is compatible with wireless charging and pairing.
The new iPad Air is also compatible with Magic Keyboard, providing the best typing experience with its floating design and built-in trackpad.
The device with iPadOS 15 will make multitasking more intuitive, making features like Split View and Slide Over easier to discover and use.
With iPadOS 15.4 and macOS 12.3, Universal Control on the device now allows users to work with a single mouse and keyboard and move between Mac and iPad for a seamless experience, with no setup required.
The new iPad Air in 64GB and 256GB configurations is now available in India. The Wi-Fi models start at Rs 54,900 and Wi-Fi+Cellular models start at Rs 68,900.
Conclusion: The new iPad Air with super-strong M1 chip and advanced cameras will help content creators, gamers and students to push the boundaries of creativity, productivity and self expression.
The completely redesigned iPad Air has the power of a computer and the portability of iPad. It’s designed so that you can do everything easily with touch.
It is time to upgrade the old iPad or buy a new one to unleash your creativity in the new normal.
Follow on Twitter | Posted by Minhaj Adnan | 
