By Nishant Arora New Delhi, Oct 26 : The year 2020 has put to the table several form factors as millions work from home and study and office spaces shrink, paving the way for modern workplaces. With the redesigned Apple iPad Air, you get what you need from a computer and for the beginners, it does what a computer does but works like an iPhone. Moreover, the device with 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display works seamlessly with Apple Pencil and can be your notepad, canvas, scanner and the perfect device for augmented reality (AR), as you look to create, work and stream from anywhere. From its birth, iPad has been all about delivering an immersive visual experience in a thin and light design you can hold in your hands. The new iPad Air is much more than just an upgrade. It comes with stunning all-screen design with larger 10.9-inch display, new 12MP rear camera, next-generation Touch ID sensor, A14 Bionic chip, high brightness, full-screen lamination, and an antireflective screen coating for the lowest reflectivity in the industry, providing outstanding performance both indoors and out. The iPad Air is available on Apple Store Online in India with a starting price of Rs 54,900 and the Wi-Fi+cellular models comes for Rs 66,900 -- in two 64GB and 256GB configurations and five beautiful finishes: Silver, space grey, rose gold, green, and sky blue. With support for Apple Pencil (2nd generation), Magic Keyboard and Smart Keyboard Folio, iPad Air is more versatile than ever. Here are a few reasons why your next computer just might be an iPad. A new generation of Touch ID is designed into the top button using the smallest fingerprint sensor ever and a faster 'Secure Enclave' technology to deliver the same fast, easy, and secure authentication that customers know and trust from other Apple devices with Touch ID. Design-wise, the device is as beautiful as its old avatars but this time, the ever-evolving aesthetics have given it a brand new appeal. The new iPad Air design is just 6.1 mm thin and weighs only 450 grams, and features an enclosure made with 100 per cent recycled aluminum. For working and creative professionals, the A14 Bionic chip with the breakthrough 5nm process technology is here to deliver increased power efficiency and higher performance. For performance-intensive tasks and workflows like editing 4K videos, creating detailed art and complex music, and playing immersive games, the new iPad Air with A14 Bionic will handle them all with ease. Along with powerful performance, iPad Air delivered up to 9 hours of battery life during moderate usage. A new 4-core graphics engine delivers a 30 per cent increase in performance for the most demanding tasks, like photo and video editing and playing high frame rate games. You also have apps like Adobe Photoshop (now Adobe Illustrator has also arrived on iPad) to fulfill your creative tasks. On the camera front, the device delivers detail-rich photos and clear, stable 4K HD videos via the new 12MP rear camera (the same as in iPad Pro). Photo modes like Panorama, Slo-mo video, Burst mode, and time-lapse video make it easy and fun to capture incredible memories. The 7MP FaceTime HD camera combined with the large screen makes the new iPad Air ideal for immersive FaceTime video calls and high-quality video calls for both your office and family. Improvements this time include support for Smart HDR, video capture up to 1080p at 60 frames per second (fps) and improved low-light performance for higher-quality video calls. Take your best selfies with the Retina Flash. Apple Pencil (2nd generation) attaches magnetically to the side of iPad for easy pairing, charging and storing. iPadOS 14 also brings Scribble to iPad, allowing Apple Pencil users to handwrite directly in any text field, making actions like replying to a quick iMessage or searching in Safari fast and easy -- all without ever needing to put Apple Pencil away. Scribble uses on-device machine learning to convert handwriting into typed text in real time, so writing is always kept private and secure. When taking notes on iPad, the 'Smart Selection' feature uses on-device machine learning to distinguish handwriting from drawings, so handwritten text can easily be selected, cut, and pasted into another document as typed text using the same familiar gestures. The 'Shape recognition' tool allows users to draw shapes that are made geometrically perfect and snap right into place when adding diagrams and illustrations in Notes. iPad Air is compatible with Magic Keyboard and its floating design with built-in trackpad. For the accessories, you need to pay extra. Like Apple Pencil (2nd generation) cost Rs 10,900 and Magic Keyboard and the Smart Keyboard Folio for iPad Air are available for purchase separately for Rs 27,900 and Rs 15,900, respectively. Smart Folios are available for iPad Air for Rs 7,500. There are cost benefits for students and their parents, as well as faculty, staff and homeschool teachers of all grade levels in India. It's designed to be secure and protect your privacy. It stays up to date automatically and is designed with accessibility in mind. Conclusion: iPads have always been the strongest choice for work, study and creativity on the go. 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 has a place for your files and a way to get to them from all your devices. It has the apps you expect on a computer, plus a million designed just for iPad. Upgrade the old iPad or buy a fresh one if you are a starter to work, stream, play and unleash your creativity 24/7. (Nishant Arora can be reached at nishant.a@ians.in) /IANS