Apple iPad Air 2020, iPad 8th Gen launched; here's all you need to know about them

Along with two new Apple Watches, and Apple One subscription, the Cupertino tech giant has refreshed its iPad line-up too. Apple has launched two new iPads - the 8th generation iPad and new iPad Air. While the former with the A12 Bionic Chip has been priced at Rs 29,900 and above, the all-new iPad Air with A14 Bionic Chip will be available starting at Rs 54,900.

Both the iPads have been manufactured using 100 per cent recycled aluminium enclosures and 100 per cent recycled tin for the solder on its main logic board. They have been kept free of harmful substances, are highly energy-efficient, and use wood fibre packaging that is recycled or comes from responsibly-managed forests.

The iPad 8th generation features a 10.2-inch Retina display and is powered by the A12 Bionic with Neural Engine for a smooth, powerful experience. Apple claims it to deliver a huge leap in performance, with 40 per cent faster CPU performance and twice the graphics capability. For the first time on iPad, A12 Bionic introduces the Neural Engine for next-level machine learning capabilities, including people occlusion and motion tracking in augmented reality (AR) apps, enhanced photo editing, Siri performance, and more. With support for Apple Pencil (1st gen) and iPad OS, users can use this iPad for drawing, note-taking, marking up documents, and more. It has got Touch ID as well.  

The new iPad Air features a completely new thin and light design, and will be available in five finishes - silver, space grey, rose gold, green, and sky blue. The new all-screen design features a larger 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display with 3.8 million pixels and advanced technologies, including full lamination, P3 wide colour support, True Tone, amongst others. To allow the display to extend on all sides, a next-generation Touch ID sensor is integrated into the top button, providing a secure way to unlock iPad Air and log in to apps.

The iPad Air is compatible with Magic Keyboard and its floating design, and built-in trackpad, Smart Keyboard Folio, and new Smart Folio covers, as well as Apple Pencil, which attaches magnetically to the side for easy pairing, charging, and storing. Powered by A14 Bionic chip, it should handle demanding apps such as 4K video edits, playing immersive games, and more with ease. This latest-generation A-series chip features a new 6-core design for a 40 per cent boost in CPU performance and a new 4-core graphics architecture for a 30 per cent improvement in graphics. It also features an upgraded camera, which includes 7MP front-facing FaceTime HD camera, and 12MP rear camera with 4K video capture. iPad Air now features a USB-C port for up to 5Gbps data transfer.

iPadOS 14 further integrates Apple Pencil into the iPad experience for better note-taking capabilities and new ways to work with handwritten notes. When taking notes on iPad, Smart Selection 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. Shape recognition allows users to draw shapes that are made geometrically perfect and snap right into place when adding diagrams and illustrations in Notes.

Data detectors work seamlessly with handwritten text, recognising phone numbers, dates, addresses, and links, making it easy for users to perform actions like tapping a handwritten number to make a call. It 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.

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