Almost exactly a year after announcing its previous mid-range tablet, Apple has announced a new iPad Air, using the M4 chipset found across the company’s Mac range.
Physically, the new iPad — available in 11-inch and 13-inch sizes — looks identical to last year’s M3 model. It has the same look, shape, and external specs. But the tablet’s internals have received a decent kick.
In addition to the faster M4 system-on-a-chip, the 2026 iPad Air has 12GB of unified memory, up from the M3 model’s 8GB of RAM. Memory bandwidth is also faster, now 120GB/s, an increase from 100GB/s. Combined with the faster chipset, the tablet is reportedly up to 30 per cent faster than the 2025 model.
Networking also gets a boost from the next-gen iPad Air, with the included N1 networking chip supporting Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread connectivity. Last year’s M3 iPad model used Wi-Fi 6E, so the new tablet’s support of Wi-Fi 7 means faster and more reliable wireless performance.
Like the new iPhone 17e, the M4 iPad Air also employs Apple’s C1X cellular modem. According to Apple, this modem powers 50 per cent faster cellular data speeds and 30 per cent less energy consumption than the modem in the 2025 iPad Air.
iPad Air M4 price and release date
However, unlike the iPhone 17e, the new iPad Air doesn’t get a storage upgrade. The 11-inch model retains its $999 starting price, along with a relatively small 128GB storage allocation. It’s the same story for the 13-inch model, which costs $1,349 for the Wi-Fi model with 128GB of storage. Prices increase for the Wi-Fi and Cellular-compatible models, which support eSIM connectivity.
| Storage | iPad Air M4 (11-inch) | iPad Air M4 (13-inch) |
|---|---|---|
| 128GB | $999 (Wi-Fi) $1,249 (Wi-Fi + Cellular) |
$1,349 (Wi-Fi) $1,599 (Wi-Fi + Cellular) |
| 256GB | $1,199 (Wi-Fi) $1,449 (Wi-Fi + Cellular) |
$1,549 (Wi-Fi) $1,799 (Wi-Fi + Cellular) |
| 512GB | $1,549 (Wi-Fi) $1,799 (Wi-Fi + Cellular) |
$1,899 (Wi-Fi) $2,149 (Wi-Fi + Cellular) |
| 1TB | $1,899 (Wi-Fi) $2,149 (Wi-Fi + Cellular) |
$2,249 (Wi-Fi) $2,499 (Wi-Fi + Cellular) |
Pre-orders begin on 5 March, which is when Apple is hosting a series of hands-on events ahead of its new devices launching. In Australia, the M4 iPad Air launches on 11 March across Apple stores and retailers. Colours for this year’s release are the same as last year’s: Starlight, Purple, Blue, and Space Grey.
With the updated tablet, the existing $219 Apple Pencil Pro and cheaper $139 USB-C Apple Pencil remain compatible. As do the set of Magic Keyboard attachments that add trackpad functionality in addition to a condensed QWERTY keyboard. They cost $449 for the 11-inch model and $499 for the 13-inch version.
The post New iPad Air gets a big internal boost from the M4 chip appeared first on GadgetGuy.
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