Apple has announced a new iPad Air powered by its M4 chip, delivering a notable performance upgrade while keeping prices unchanged.
The updated iPad Air is available in 11-inch and 13-inch sizes and brings faster CPU and GPU performance, more memory, and improved connectivity compared with the previous generation. Apple says the new model is up to 30% faster than the M3-based iPad Air and more than twice as fast as the M1 version.
The M4 chip features an 8-core CPU and a 9-core GPU, enabling better performance in tasks such as photo editing, video work and gaming. The GPU also supports hardware-accelerated ray tracing and mesh shading, which Apple says significantly improves graphics rendering in supported apps and games.
Apple has also increased unified memory on the new iPad Air to 12GB, a 50% jump over the previous model. Combined with higher memory bandwidth, the upgrade is designed to improve multitasking and on-device AI workloads, including features in apps such as Final Cut Pro, Pixelmator Pro and Apple’s Creator Studio tools.
Connectivity has been upgraded with Apple’s new N1 wireless chip, bringing support for Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6 and Thread. Cellular models now include Apple’s C1X modem, which Apple claims delivers faster 5G performance while using less power. GPS support is also included on cellular models.
The new iPad Air ships with iPadOS 26, which introduces Apple’s Liquid Glass design, a new windowing system, an improved Files app, and a Preview app for viewing and marking up PDFs and images. iPadOS 26 also adds new audio and background task capabilities designed to take advantage of Apple silicon.
As before, the iPad Air supports Apple Pencil Pro, Apple Pencil (USB-C) and the Magic Keyboard. The Magic Keyboard includes a built-in trackpad, a function row, and a USB-C charging port in the hinge.
Apple says the new iPad Air is aimed at users upgrading from older iPad and iPad Air models, highlighting gains in performance, camera placement along the landscape edge, improved speakers, and support for Apple Intelligence features built into iPadOS.
The new iPad Air is available in blue, purple, starlight and space gray, with storage options ranging from 128GB to 1TB.
Pre-orders begin on Wednesday, March 4, with availability starting March 11. Pricing remains the same as before, starting at $599 for the 11-inch model and $799 for the 13-inch model, with education discounts available.