Apple on Tuesday introduced a new iPad Air powered by its M4 chip, promising faster performance, more memory and improved connectivity while keeping starting prices unchanged, as the company pushes deeper into on-device artificial intelligence.
The updated iPad Air comes in 11-inch and 13-inch versions starting at $599 and $799 respectively, the same as the prior generation. Education pricing starts at $549 for the smaller model. Pre-orders open March 4, with availability beginning March 11.
Apple said the M4 delivers up to 30% faster performance than the M3-based iPad Air and up to 2.3 times the speed of the M1 model, aided by an 8-core CPU, 9-core GPU and a 16-core Neural Engine. Unified memory increases by 50% to 12GB, with memory bandwidth rising to 120GB per second.
The company positioned the device as a step forward for AI workloads, including photo and video editing, transcription and on-device intelligence features in apps such as Final Cut Pro and Goodnotes.
Connectivity also gets a boost, with Apple’s new N1 wireless chip enabling Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6, while cellular models add the C1X modem, which Apple says can deliver up to 50% faster cellular speeds and improved power efficiency.
The new iPad Air ships with iPadOS 26, which introduces a redesigned interface, a new windowing system, an expanded Files app and a Preview app for viewing and marking up PDFs. The update also adds deeper audio controls and background task support, features Apple says take advantage of its custom silicon.
Accessories include support for Apple Pencil Pro and an updated Magic Keyboard with a function row and built-in trackpad. The device is available in blue, purple, starlight and space gray, with storage options ranging from 128GB to 1TB.
Apple said the new iPad Air uses 30% recycled content and aligns with its goal to be carbon neutral across its footprint by 2030.