Apple has introduced its latest iPad, the iPad Air featuring M4, more memory and faster CPU and GPU, resulting in a significant boost in performance.
According to Apple, this new iPad Air is up to 30% faster than iPad Air with M3 and up to 2.3 times faster than iPad Air with M1. The new iPad Air also features the latest in Apple silicon connectivity chips, N1 and C1X, delivering fast wireless and cellular connections as well as support for Wi-Fi 7.
The M4 chip upgrades will be most notable with apps like Apple Creator Studio, where compositing photos in Pixelmator Pro or editing video in Final Cut Pro is quicker. With the nine-core GPU of M4, iPad Air supports second-generation hardware-accelerated mesh shading and ray tracing for improved graphics performance. It delivers over four times faster 3D pro rendering with ray tracing performance compared to iPad Air with M1, offering more accurate lighting, reflections, and shadows for realistic gaming experiences.
With AI, you get faster memory bandwidth and a fast Neural Engine, which will assist for tasks like students transcribing lecture notes, creators storyboarding a new project, and business users polishing e-mails. Unified memory jumps 50% to 12GB, and memory bandwidth increases to 120GB/s, helping you run AI models faster. The 16-core Neural Engine is three times faster than that of M1 and is perfect for everyday tasks that use on-device AI, like searching for subjects and texts in photos, or leveraging powerful AI features in apps like Goodnotes and Onform: Video Analysis App. The Neural Engine also powers capabilities in Apple Creator Studio apps, like removing the background of video footage with Scene Removal Mask in Final Cut Pro.
iPad Air features N1, an Apple-designed wireless networking chip that enables Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread. N1 brings better performance when connected to 5GHz Wi-Fi networks and improves the overall performance and reliability of features like Personal Hotspot and AirDrop. Cellular models of iPad Air also feature C1X, a cellular modem designed by Apple that offers up to 50% faster cellular data performance. For active cellular users, C1X offers up to 30% less modem energy usage than iPad Air with M3. Cellular models also include GPS capabilities, so you can navigate with confidence. With eSIM, you can quickly and securely add a new plan and connect and transfer existing cellular plans digitally.
iPadOS 26 upgrades include Liquid Glass, a new and more intuitive windowing system for controlling, organizing, and switching among apps, a new menu bar for accessing commands available in an app with a swipe down from the top of the display or by moving the cursor to the top, an enhanced Files app, folders in the Dock, Preview app, and more.
Accessories like the Apple Pencil (USB-C) and Apple Pencil Pro and Magic Keyboard work with the iPad Air M4 as well.
The Apple iPad Air M4 is available for pre-order starting March 4, 2026 and will be arriving starting March 11, 2026. It comes in 11-inch and 13-inch sizes in Blue, Purple, Starlight, and Space Gray and in 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB. The 11-inch iPad Air starts at $799 in Canada for the Wi-Fi model and $999 for the Wi-Fi + Cellular edition, while the 13-inch iPad Air starts at $1,099 for the Wi-Fi model, and $1,299 or the Wi-Fi + Cellular model. With education savings, the 11-inch iPad Air starts at $729 and the 13-inch iPad Air starts at $1,029.
Magic Keyboard, available in black and white, is compatible with the 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Air. The 11-inch Magic Keyboard is available for $379 and the 13-inch Magic Keyboard is available for $399. With education savings, the 11-inch Magic Keyboard is available for $349 and the 13-inch Magic Keyboard is available for $369. Apple Pencil Pro and Apple Pencil (USB-C) are compatible with the new iPad Air. Apple Pencil Pro is available for $169 and $159 with education savings. Apple Pencil (USB-C) is available for $109, and $95 with education savings.