Apple has unveiled an updated iPad Air featuring the M4 chip, offering a performance boost while maintaining the same price point as its predecessor. The announcement, made on Monday, March 2, 2026, marks a rapid cycle of chip updates for the iPad Air line.
The new iPad Air incorporates Apple’s in-house networking chips, the N1 and C1X, supporting Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Thread, and cellular connectivity. This integration brings Wi-Fi 7 support to the iPad Air for the first time. Standard RAM has also been increased to 12GB, up from 8GB in the previous model. This move reflects a trend toward increased memory capacity in mobile devices to support more demanding applications and multitasking.
Despite the significant internal upgrades, the core design and display of the iPad Air remain largely unchanged. It continues to offer either an 11- or 13-inch LCD display with a peak brightness of 500 nits and a 60Hz refresh rate. Storage options range from 128GB to 1TB, mirroring last year’s configurations. The dual stereo speaker setup and camera systems also remain consistent with prior models.
Apple’s commitment to frequent chip updates for the iPad Air is notable, especially considering the M2-equipped model was released less than two years ago. The company stated that getting a faster chip for the same price is a compelling benefit for consumers.
The iPad Air M4 will ship with iPadOS 26, which was released last fall and introduced a significantly enhanced multitasking system. The new operating system offers greater flexibility in window management and improved background task handling, particularly beneficial on the larger 13-inch screen. The visual redesign, dubbed Liquid Glass, has received mixed reactions.
Pre-orders for the iPad Air M4 begin on Wednesday, March 4, with full availability slated for March 11. Pricing starts at $599 for the 11-inch model and $799 for the 13-inch display, as reported by Engadget. MacRumors notes that the M4 chip builds on the 3-nanometer process of the M3, offering speed and efficiency improvements with up to 10 CPU cores and a faster Neural Engine.
