Apple iPad Air M4 review: pro performance at an amateur price

The iPad Air is in many ways the Goldilocks of tablets. It’s big but lightweight, fast but still affordable. It sits just below the iPad Pro, which now features the M5 chip and above the iPad mini, which runs the A17 Pro chip, and the standard iPad A16, which sits as the budget option.

Its price is identical to the MacBook Neo and the iPhone 17e, which gives users either an interesting choice for their money or the potential of two products for the price they might normally spend on one. Of the three, the iPad Air is the most powerful and arguably the most adaptable.

Thanks to the M4 chip, the iPad Air is powerful enough for all your computing tasks, and paired with a Magic Keyboard, it could replace your laptop. With an Apple Pencil, or even just your finger, it becomes the perfect creative tool for designers, sketchers or just those looking to take notes. It’s also perfect for watching movies, playing games or just browsing pages, wherever you are.

While changes from last year’s iPad Air M3 are minimal outside of the new M4 chip, those upgrading from older machines will see a huge boost in performance, especially when it comes to graphics and AI tasks. I spent a few weeks using the iPad Air M4, and I believe this is the best iPad for most people.

How much is the iPad Air M4?

The iPad Air M4 was announced on 2 March 2026 and went on sale on 11 March 2026. It comes in two sizes, with the smaller 11-inch model starting from £599 in the UK, $599 in the US, €649 in Europe and A$999 in Australia. The larger 13-inch model starts from £799 in the UK, $799 in the US, €849 in Europe and A$1349 in Australia.

Both sizes come in four colours, including space grey, blue, purple and starlight. There is a choice of four storage options from 128GB up to 1TB, and also between the Wi-Fi-only and the Cellular model, which adds the ability to use data from an eSIM.

Even with all options chosen on the larger 13-inch model, the maximum price is £1449 / $1449 (€1649 / A$2499), which is the same price as the MacBook Air 15-inch with the same storage. If you do want to get the most out of the iPad Air, you will want to add either the Apple Pencil Pro (£129 / $299) or the Magic Keyboard (from £269 / $269) – ideally both. Even with these, the price starts from under £1000 / $1000.

What’s new on the iPad Air M4?

Physically, there’s no change in the design of the iPad Air from the M3 model. It still features either an 11 or 13-inch liquid retina display, with P3 wide colour, true tone and an anti-reflective coating. It still has a centre-mounted 12MP Centre Stage camera on the longer edge and uses Touch ID for authorisation on the top button.

Small discrete volume up and down buttons still sit on the top right of the longer edge, and on the bottom is still a USB-C port for charging and a smart connector on the back for keyboard connectivity. Also on the back is a single 12MP wide-angle camera that can shoot 4K video.

It always surprises me how large the bezels still are on the latest iPad models, compared to the iPhone and MacBooks, and that’s still the case here. The only advantage of this is that it doesn’t require a notch to house the camera and light sensors.

One thing you’ll notice when holding the iPad Air is just how light it is. Even the larger 13-inch model weighs just 617 grams (1.36lbs). Unexpectedly, though, it’s heavier than the iPad Pro equivalent, which weighs 35g less than the 13-inch or 19g less than the 11-inch.

It’s also 1mm (0.04 inches) thicker than the iPad Pro, not that you’d really notice that when holding it. This size and weight likely come down to the screen tech on the devices, and it is minimal in practice. It perhaps says more about the iPad Pro’s advancements than anything against the iPad Air.

There’s only really one feature missing from the iPad Air, in my opinion, and that’s Face ID. Having had this on the iPad Pro for some time, and taking it for granted on all iPhones – even the iPhone 17e – it seems strange to revert back to Touch ID here. The same could be said for MacBooks, but as a device that sits halfway between a Mac and an iPhone, it makes sense to come here first.

Inside the iPad, the biggest change is the M4 chip, but there’s also two more new features. The N1 is Apple’s own wireless connectivity chip, and takes care of all Wi-Fi connectivity, as well as Bluetooth and Thread. It ups the standards to Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 for this model, giving you faster and more reliable connections.

The C1X chip is Apple’s cellular modem, and therefore only features on the cellular version of the iPad Air. This is also upgraded from the previous C1 chip, giving 50% faster cellular performance compared to the iPad Air M3.

iPad Air display

While the iPad Air doesn’t have the tandem OLED display of the iPad Pro, the Liquid Retina screen looks really impressive. I was testing the larger 13-inch model, which has 600 nits of brightness, while the smaller 11-inch model has just 500 nits. Both feature a True Tone display with P3 wide colour and have the same resolution density (264ppi). The display is also fully laminated with an anti-reflective coating.

What you don’t get on the Air is the nano-texture glass option, which gives a matte effect to the screen and extra-low reflections. Again, this feels a bit of a shame, as it makes the tablet more suited for creative stylus work and becomes an alternative to the Kindle Scribe Colourfast or ReMarkable Colour tablet.

It’s also worth noting that the iPad air display doesn’t feature ProMotion, meaning the refresh rate is limited to 60Hz rather than 120Hz. This is only really noticable with fast movement, such as gaming and video editing, though you can see the difference when scrolling fast through web pages too.

That said, I was really impressed how good content looked on the iPad Air M4. Colours really pop in photos and video, and even make ordinary websites stand out. Using the device on the move, including on trains and planes, I watched episodes of Disney+’s Daredevil Born Again and Apple TV’s new series of For All ManKind. I also played Civilization VII from Apple Arcade.

With the graphics and resolution set to their maximum on games and movies, the quality is very high, giving you crisp clear images with tons of detail, even in shadows. Watching shows on a 13-inch screen feels quite a luxury while travelling, compared to the 11-inch model I tend to travel with. It definitely gives you more impact.

It’s also worth noting that the sound from this iPad is very good. While it only uses stereo speakers, rather than the four-speaker system of the iPad Pro, there’s plenty of bass and it sounds good for both video and audio tracks.

Accessories for the iPad Air

There are two main accessories you will want to consider for the iPad Air. The Magic Keyboard is ideal if you want to use the Air for any form of writing. It turns the tablet into a very capable laptop, complete with a trackpad. While I didn’t use the Magic Keyboard on this test, I have previously used it with both the iPad Pro M5 and the iPad Air M3 and would highly recommend it. With this attached, the iPad Air becomes a worthy competitor to the MacBook Neo, and even the MacBook Air.

The second accessory I would recommend for the iPad Air is the Apple Pencil. This model is compatible with both the top-of-the-range Apple Pencil Pro as well as the more basic Apple Pencil USB-C. There are definitely creative benefits to the Apple Pencil Pro, including the barrel roll, to change the angle of your brush and a squeeze function to bring up the tool palette and haptic feedback. However, perhaps the most useful is that it will charge wirelessly when attached to the side of the iPad magnetically. For the USB-C model, you have to plug the stylus in.

Even if you don’t need the keyboard or stylus, it’s worth investing in a folio cover for the iPad Air. This protects the screen when not in use – essential if placing it into a bag – and also provides a stand for the device when in use. As nice as it is to use the iPad without any attachments, you do run the risk of accidental damage and tired hands from holding it.

How does it perform?

The iPad Air M4 might look the same as the older version on the outside, but under the surface, it’s very different. That is mostly down to the new M4 chip inside it, as well as the N1 wireless chip and C1X cellular modem.

The M4 chip in the iPad Air features an 8-core CPU with 3 performance cores and 5 efficiency cores, and a 9-core GPU. It also features a 16-core neural engine and hardware-accelerated ray tracing. This is a slightly less powerful chip than the one featured in last year’s iPad Pro models and MacBook models. The MacBook Air M4 featured a 10-core CPU, while the iPad Pro and MacBook Pro both ran 10-core CPUs and 10-core GPUs.

There is a step up in performance from the M3 chip, and if you push the device with processor-heavy tasks, such as video processing and editing, you will see improvements in speed. Equally, the graphics processor means it is more capable for everything from 3D imaging to AAA gaming.

For general use, the improvements are likely to be more subtle, unless you are upgrading from an older iPad. Compared to an M1 model, it offers 45% faster CPU performance and 65% faster GPU performance. If you are accessing AI features, the performance is three times faster.

To get some comparison, I ran the Geekbench 6 test for the CPU and the GPU. The iPad M4 produced a multi-core score of 13,230, which was 13.9% higher than the M3, or a single-core score of 3722, which is 21.9% higher. That’s quite a jump for one generation of chip, and shows just how much faster it can run. The M5 is another 11% to 17% higher again, but as to whether you really need that speed is questionable for most.

Equally on the graphics processor test, the iPad Air M4 scored 53,327 in the Metal test, which is a 16% increase on the M3 chip. The ray tracing allows for faster rending of 3D modelling, which helps not only for designers, but also for gamers.

While the chip is running faster, the battery life remains the same for the M4 model. It still offers a 10-hour runtime for watching video or surfing the web using Wi-Fi. If using a cellular connection, that reduces to nine hours, due to the modem use. Battery life is one area where MacBooks – with their space for a larger battery – beat iPads. Even the MacBook Neo can give you up to 11 hours of Wi-Fi use, or 16 hours of streaming.

Should I buy the iPad Air?

The iPad Air M4 is a seriously powerful tablet that combines a great screen with top performance. It strikes a nice balance between power and price that makes this an appealing option for anyone wanting a tablet capable of laptop tasks.

While the iPad Pro is a considerable jump up in both screen and power, the Air does more than enough for the majority of users. Arguably the standard iPad and iPad mini would also be plenty for most users, but the Air offers the larger screens without increasing the weight.

Apple is adamant that there is no canibalisation between the iPad and the MacBook, and while they do fulfil different tasks, I think some users will still be picking between the iPad Air and the MacBook Neo – especially as they are the same price.

In many ways, the Neo has carved out its own market, but that also includes those who were looking to buy an iPad in place of a cheaper laptop. Using an iPad in place of a laptop still requires some compromise, not least dealing with the limitations of iPadOS for those tasks – though this has improved and I suspect it will further with iPadOS 27.

The iPad Air, however does offer a few clear advantages over the Neo. It has a touchscreen display for starters, which opens up the potential, not just for touch control, but for full stylus creativity with an Apple Pencil – something not even the MacBook Pro can do. It also offers a more powerful processor in the M4. While the A17 Pro has proved more capable in a laptop than many imagined, there’s no disputing that the M4 is one of the best there is (apart from the M5 and the various Pro, Max and Ultra versions).

So while the iPad Air might no longer be the go-to device for users looking for a cheaper alternative to the MacBook Air, it is the best hybrid solution for the money. It’s a lot of tablet for the price, and this update will ensure it stays on top.

Also consider

As the iPad Air offers both 11-inch and 13-inch models, it covers a lot of ground, but there are always other options, especially within the Apple ecosystem. For those considering the smaller 11-inch model and not requiring the M4 firepower, the iPad (A17) offers the same screen size but with a more basic spec, while saving you nearly 50% of the price.

For those considering the 13-inch model, the MacBook Neo now offers one of the most compelling alternatives, at least for those looking for day-to-day tasks. While it doesn’t have the same level of power or the touchscreen, it’s a considerably cheaper option once you factor in the keyboard.

If, of course, the touchscreen and stylus capabilities are paramount and you want this as a creative tool, it’s the iPad Pro that offers the ultimate experience. While costing considerably more (by at least £400 / $400), it has a marked improvement in screen quality, a faster chip and is both thinner and lighter.