iPad Air M4: Faster, But Not Much Else

Apple's midrange tablet gets a speed bump—and that's about it. The iPad Air M4 swap-ticks the right boxes for performance, but otherwise leaves the chassis largely untouched.

Testing shows the big difference is under the hood. The M4 chip replaces the M3, and RAM jumps from 8GB to 12GB. That combination translates to a noticeable uplift in app multitasking and responsiveness, especially when Apple Intelligence features kick in. In practical terms, creatives who push their iPads with multi-app workflows—think Procreate, LumaFusion, and similar tools—will feel the benefit more than casual users. The upgrade is framed as a meaningful performance step rather than a feature revolution.

But don’t expect a flood of small, visible evolutions in the hardware or software slate. The core design, display sizes (11-inch and 13-inch), and overall chassis carry over. There’s no stated bump in starting storage, no camera overhaul, and no new display tech to speak of. In other words, Apple is selling the speed boost more than a bevy of new tricks. As Engadget notes, the new Air models stay priced at the same levels as the M3: $599 for the 11-inch and $799 for the 13-inch, with pre-orders kicking off March 4 at 9:15 a.m. ET and units arriving about a week later. The absence of a price premium for the upgrade is a welcome but unusual signal from Apple.

From a consumer perspective, the decision hinges on your current hardware. If you’re piloting an iPad Air from the M1 era or older, the M4’s increased RAM and faster silicon can translate into genuinely smoother performance in memory-heavy apps and during sustained multitasking. If you’re already on an M3, the upgrade is less urgent—engines may rev up, but the car’s chassis remains the same. The release is also notable for maintaining an ecosystem where an iPad Air remains the smart middle path: not as expensive as the Pro, not as constrained as the cheapest iPad options, with a clean path forward for those who want more speed without abandoning the form factor.

Industry watchers will watch two things next: how much real-world benefit the 12GB RAM yields in long-running creative workloads, and whether Apple will refresh non-Silicon aspects—storage tiers, cameras, or battery optimizations—in a midcycle update. The lack of any refresh in those areas signals Apple’s current strategy: push performance efficiency and AI-assisted features while keeping hardware changes modest. For buyers, that means a straightforward tradeoff: you get more speed and headroom for memory-intensive tasks, without paying extra or chasing new features you don’t immediately need.

Buy, wait, or skip? Buy if you’re on older iPad Air hardware and crave smoother multitasking with memory-hungry apps. Wait if you already own an M3 Air and don’t need the extra RAM for your day-to-day tasks. Skip only if you were hoping for larger storage bumps, a redesigned chassis, or a camera overhaul.

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iPad Air M4 vs. iPad Air M3: The few new things in Apple's midrange tablet