Let’s get the big answer out of the way. Yes, in India, the new eighth generation iPad is the perfect festive season gift for a number of people. People who don’t have a tablet at all. People who are unable to share their tablet with other family members. People who want the best educational and creative apps available. People who want to watch movies, read books. People who have to attend online classes.

It’s a special year for Apple in India as the company makes more inroads through its recently-launched online store here, besides sprucing up its device manufacturing muscles in the country. Many wrongs have been righted about the basic iPad this year, almost all to do with the innards of the device.

So does the new basic iPad have enough to excite users, keep them up into the night to dabble in this and that features?

Yes, of course but it also has a couple of clangers.

Harness the power of iPadOS

Making an iPad — any iPad — amazing are a few things — power, app selection, ease of use and battery life. The new iPad is no exception. Compared to the iPad of 2019, there is as much change in the tablet’s design as there has been on the whiskers of an ageing cat. Why change something that’s perfect? The size is right, the home button is still there and click-y and a headphone port is present. Android tablets keep adding and deleting features, putting in more cameras but such changes don’t help.

Instead, Apple focused on the processor, which is now the A12 Bionic, a massive upgrade from the A10 Bionic that first appeared in the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. The upgrade ensures that everything runs smoothly and multi-app functionality is seamless.

In the hands of a student, it’s a mighty tool. Apps like Earth Primer puts the forces of nature and geography lessons at one’s fingertips. MathBoard easily excites school children of all ages. Install Procreate to turn the iPad into a canvas like no other. And there is very little in way of comparison to our very own NaadSadhana which takes care of practising ragas at a pro level.

In fact, the app store is perhaps the biggest winner for all iPads. Android doesn’t really care about making too many apps for the tablet or modifying app options for phones for a tablet experience. There are countless iPad-exclusive apps available for every person.

Throw in the Apple Pencil to take the game to a new level. All the powerful features of iPadOS 14 are in full swing here. Instead of typing in what you are looking for, scribble it in the search box and it gets automatically converted to text, with precision. Similarly, scribble anything in Notes and get it converted to text.

The only disadvantage is that the tablet supports the older generation Pencil that charges via lightning port. Having a pencil stick out perpendicular to the machine looks weird.

This and that

In way of battery life also, satisfaction comes in oodles. Using the tablet as an all-day tool will surely drain it but not before giving a full day’s work, like nine hours of screen time.

What Apple needs to work on is allowing multiuser support on a single tablet. I mean, it’s not feasible to buy each member in the family a tablet. With children staying in because of the pandemic, they tend to use the same tablet as one of the parents. Schools are allowed a multiuser account but so should other users. That’s probably my biggest gripe.

For the long haul

Will I buy it for my child? Will I gift it to my better half? Will I give this to my parents? Will it work for the next five-six years? The answer is a big yes. There’s nothing I’d choose over an iPad when it comes to tackling education-related exercises or music, drawing and reading. The iPad’s aspect ratio, excellent screen and light weight make it perfect.

Cost is a subjective issue but one thing is for sure, once an iPad is bought, it’s more or less going to be with the user for at least five years (best to avoid the base model for long-term use) if not more, minus the huffing-puffing of tablets running Android and even Windows.

There is a glide to the new iPad, enough speed and, very importantly, the perfect heft, which makes a world of difference. It continues to transform how literature and films get consumed, how digital art gets created — even for the cover of the prestigious New Yorker magazine, how educational tools find students or how music gets made. The eighth-generation iPad proves why the device continues to be an enduring, game changer.

At a glance

Device: iPad, eighth generation

• Display: 10.2-inch LED-backlit multi-touch display with IPS technology, 2,160x1,620-pixel resolution at 264 ppi
• Chip: A12 Bionic
• Camera: 8MP rear and 1.2MP front
• Capacity: 32GB/128GB
• Also in the box: Lightning to USB-C cable, USB-C power adapter
• Pencil: Supports Apple Pencil (first generation)
• Speakers: Stereo
• Price: Options available upwards of Rs 29,900