Along with the iPhone 17e, Apple also updated the iPad Air with the M4 chip, bringing serious performance at such an incredible value. The M4 chip with an 8-core CPU and a 9-core GPU brings solid improvements over the M3, with up to 30% faster performance, and even more substantial performance of the M1 with up to 2.3x faster performance. The M4 chip lets you power through some of the most demanding games and apps, especially all the apps in Apple Creator Studio. Now, multitasking performance gets even better on iPadOS 26 thanks to having 12GB of RAM (over the 8GB of RAM on the previous model).
The iPad Air follows the latest and greatest iPad Pro in adopting both the N1 chip and the C1X modem – Apple’s own silicon for both wireless networking and cellular connectivity. This means the iPad Air now has Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6, and for cellular models, users should see improved speeds when connected to a cellular network.
The iPad Air continues to work with all the existing accessories for the previous iPad Air, including the Apple Pencil (USB-C), Apple Pencil Pro, and Magic Keyboard (in either white or black).
The iPad Air continues to be the perfect balance between power, features, and price as the 11-inch model continues to start at just $599, and the 13-inch model continues to start at just $799. Both come with 128GB by default, but they can be configured to either 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB of storage for both Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi+Cellular models. The iPad Air is also eligible for a $50 discount for education customers, such as college students and educators.
Users who buy either a new iPad or a qualifying iPad are eligible for a three-month free trial of Apple Creator Studio. Pricing will be applied after the trial expires.
Orders for the iPad Air (M4) begin today, and it will be available in Apple Store locations and Apple Authorized Resellers starting Wednesday, March 11.
