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As learning and work from home become a new normal in India, students and working professionals have been busy scouting for devices that let them create, design and innovate from anywhere, on the go. With its ultra-portable design and wide range of uses, the new Apple iPad mini is their go-to device.

With a new all-screen Liquid Retina display, massive boost in performance, new advanced cameras on the front and back, Centre Stage, USB-C and support for Apple Pencil (2nd generation), the new iPad mini is a big leap forward that can be held in the palm of your hand.

Featuring the new A15 Bionic chip, the new iPad mini claims to deliver up to 80 per cent faster performance than the previous generation.

Let us find out whether this new device can allow work, learning and fun from anywhere.

An all-screen design features a larger 8.3-inch Liquid Retina display with advanced technologies including True Tone, P3 wide colour, and anti-reflective coating.

One must agree that display offers lowest reflectivity in the industry, providing excellent performance in all lighting conditions

At just 6.3 mm, the new design is absolutely thin and light, featuring an enclosure made with 100 per cent recycled aluminum.

Available in four finishes -- purple, pink, starlight and space gray -- iPad mini comes in 64GB and 256GB storage.

The all-screen design is enabled by moving Touch ID to the top button of iPad mini. Touch ID can be used to unlock iPad mini and log in to apps.

For performance-intensive tasks and workflows like editing 4K videos, creating detailed artwork and complex music compositions, and playing immersive games, the new iPad mini with A15 Bionic chip handles them all with ease.

The A15 Bionic chip delivers up to 40 per cent increase in performance over the previous iPad mini. It has a new 6-core design with two performance cores to tackle heavy computational tasks and four high-efficiency cores to take on everyday tasks.

A new 5-core graphics engine delivers up to 80 per cent increase in performance for the most demanding tasks, like photo and video editing, playing console-quality games, and incredible augmented reality experiences.

In ideal conditions, iPad mini delivered up to 8.5 hours of battery life.

On the camera front, the 12MP back camera will let you take stunning photos and beautiful 4K video for the first time on iPad mini.

The 12MP Ultra Wide front camera features Center Stage, which makes video calls more natural, by keeping you in the centre of the frame automatically.

The speakers of the new wide stereo audio system have landscape orientation that widens the sound stage to make your personal listening experience even more immersive.

Now shift to Apple Pencil which has become the must-have tool for creative souls.

Apple Pencil also supports handwritten notes, the ability to take down a Quick Note and Markup, which lets the users annotate photos, PDFs and screenshots. With Scribble, you can now handwrite into any text field.

As usual, Apple Pencil attaches magnetically to iPad mini for wireless charging and pairing.

A new USB-C port allows faster connectivity — fast data transfer up to 5Gbps which is 10x faster than the previous generation. It helps connect to a vast ecosystem of USB-C accessories, including cameras and external storage and displays up to 4K.

Those wishing to purchase an all-new Apple iPad mini can do so from its India Store Online. Wi-Fi models of iPad mini are available with a starting price of Rs 46,900 and Wi-Fi + Cellular models start at Rs 60,900.

Apple Pencil (2nd generation), available for purchase separately, is compatible with iPad mini for Rs 10,900.

Conclusion: In the hybrid work and remote learning era, the 8.3-inch new iPad mini proves to be an ideal device for those who look for light-weight work experience and wish to remain away from smartphones and laptops for ease of travelling and working from anywhere.