Apple iPad Air (2026) review: More power, same formula

Finest Costs In the present day: Apple iPad Air 11-inch (M4, 2026)

The iPad Air has occupied a peculiar area in Apple’s pill lineup since its debut over a decade in the past. It’s by no means been fairly the powerhouse of the iPad Professional, nevertheless it’s all the time been a step above the entry-level iPad in areas that matter. That hasn’t modified with the M4 technology.

The iPad Air (M4) slots neatly between the common iPad (A16) and the iPad Professional (M5) in Apple’s present pill portfolio. It’s obtainable in 11-inch and 13-inch variations, and whereas the outside is similar to the M3 mannequin that launched in early 2025, and consequently virtually the identical because the 2020 M1 mannequin too, the internals inform a unique story. 

There’s a quicker processor, extra reminiscence, and a recent set of wi-fi chips, making this essentially the most succesful iPad Air but. However does it do sufficient to retain the iPad Air’s place as the most effective iPad for most individuals? 

Design & Construct

• Identical design and color choices
• No IP score
• Slim aluminium physique

Stand the iPad Air (M4) subsequent to the iPad Air (M3) and a recreation of spot the distinction can be completely pointless. It seems and feels precisely like its predecessor however, whereas there isn’t something new to say on the design, it’s nonetheless a refined and premium one with little or no incorrect with it.

The size are similar to the iPad Air (M3) with the 11-inch mannequin measuring 247.6 x 178.5 x 6.1mm and weighing 460g, whereas the 13-inch model is available in at 280.6 x 214.9 x 6.1mm at 616g. All buttons and ports are similar, too, and its slim, flat-edged aluminium body stays a pleasure to carry.

Britta O’Boyle

The identical 4 color choices are additionally unchanged from the iPad Air (M3) with Area Gray, Starlight, Blue, and Purple obtainable. If you happen to have been hoping for a brand new shade to accompany the brand new processor this 12 months, then sorry I don’t have higher information for you. The present palette is gorgeous although, with my private favourites blue and purple. 

The unibody development feels stable, with no flexing or creaking irrespective of the way you maintain this pill, whereas Contact ID continues to sit down throughout the energy button for unlocking and authenticating passwords and funds. Contact ID works rapidly and reliably, however I can’t assist being upset on the absence of Face ID for one more 12 months on this mannequin.

It’s one of many options that clearly marks the divide between the Air and the iPad Professional (M5), and on condition that Face ID is accessible on Apple’s entry-level iPhone, it feels about time the iPad Air acquired it. 

Britta O’Boyle

On the backside of the iPad Air (M4), USB-C handles charging and knowledge switch, whereas the landscape-positioned entrance digicam launched on the iPad Air (M2) stays on the sting, making video calls extra pure.

The very last thing to say concerning the design is that there’s nonetheless no IP score for any iPad mannequin, together with the iPad Air (M4). That’s probably not a problem for day-to-day use on the couch or at a desk, however for those who like to make use of a pill close to a pool or within the tub, Samsung’s Galaxy Tab vary can be a safer wager.

Display screen & Audio system

• 11-inch or 13-inch
• IPS LCD
• Pencil Professional assist
• Stereo audio system

Simply as there was little new to say concerning the iPad Air (M4)’s design, there’s little to say about its show. Each the 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Air (M4) fashions use the identical Liquid Retina IPS LCD panels discovered of their predecessors. Full lamination and an anti-reflective coating are customary on each.

Lamination makes utilizing an Apple Pencil with the iPad Air (M4) really feel extra pure than on the iPad (A16), whereas the anti-reflective coating is beneficial when working outdoors or close to a big window. The coating doesn’t examine to the Nano-texture coating possibility obtainable on the iPad Professional (M5), and I’m upset to not see this as an possibility once more right here, however what you get is adequate.

Britta O’Boyle

In the meantime, the P3 large color assist ensures correct, vivid copy for inventive work, and watching content material on the iPad Air (M4) is a pleasure. Colors are wealthy and constant, and element is crisp, although the LCD panel doesn’t ship fairly the identical inky blacks and depth you get with the iPad Professional (M5)’s tandem OLED show.

The 60Hz refresh charge is a notable limitation, too, particularly given the iPad Air (M4) ‘s value. Anybody who has used a cellphone with a 120Hz refresh charge will seemingly discover the distinction when scrolling – it’s not jarring, nevertheless it’s not as clean when gaming or studying menus or paperwork.

For video, productiveness, and informal shopping, 60Hz is completely purposeful, however the absence of Apple’s 120Hz ProMotion tech is a compromise to pay attention to right here.

Britta O’Boyle

You do get assist for Apple’s Pencil Professional nevertheless, and it stays the most effective stylus experiences obtainable on any pill. The hover preview, squeeze gesture, and barrel roll performance are all nice and, whereas it’s a disgrace the Apple Pencil isn’t included with the iPad Air (M4) as Samsung’s S Pen is with Galaxy Tabs, for those who purchase it individually, you’ll have a really succesful inventive setup.

In the meantime, the stereo speaker setup delivers satisfactory outcomes for on a regular basis listening. Preserve the quantity under the higher third and the sound is balanced and clear; push it tougher and issues can sound strained. I’d all the time suggest utilizing headphones for something you really care about listening to correctly, however the built-in audio system are fantastic for a fast video or a FaceTime name.

Specs & Efficiency

• Apple M4
• 12GB unified reminiscence
• Wi-Fi 7
• Bluetooth 6

That is the place the M4 iPad Air makes a extra convincing case. The brand new processor options an 8-core CPU and 9-core GPU constructed on a 3nm course of – although it’s price noting that the CPU configuration shifts to 3 efficiency cores and 5 effectivity cores, which is a slight variation from the iPad Professional’s M4 implementation.

In follow, Apple claims this interprets to efficiency greater than double that of the M1 technology. If you happen to’re upgrading from that 2020 mannequin, you need to discover an actual distinction.

The larger headline, arguably, is the additional RAM, although. This jumps from 8GB within the M3 to 12GB, and that’s accompanied by a bump in reminiscence bandwidth to 120GB/s. For on a regular basis duties, equivalent to shopping, e-mail and streaming, the distinction gained’t be noticeable to anybody utilizing the M3 iPad Air as a result of this mannequin already dealt with these with out breaking a sweat.

The place the additional reminiscence makes itself felt is in additional demanding eventualities, together with modifying giant picture tasks, working AI-powered options and dealing with a number of Safari tabs open.

Britta O’Boyle

Multitasking is easy on the iPad Air (M4), too, although admittedly it was on the iPad Air (M3). There was zero lag when working a number of apps directly, and leaping between extra intensive purposes from video modifying to picture modifying was seamless all through my assessment interval.

Connectivity on the iPad Air (M4) has additionally been handled to a significant improve by way of two new Apple-designed chips. The N1 brings Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 to the Air for the primary time. It was beforehand a privilege for the Professional solely – delivering greater peak wi-fi speeds, extra dependable connections in crowded environments, and higher energy effectivity so long as you might have the suitable community and router.

Mobile fashions additionally add the C1X modem, which could be discovered within the Apple iPhone Air and the iPhone 17e. Apple says presents as much as 50 per cent quicker knowledge speeds and consumes round 30 per cent much less energy than the previous-generation modem, although that is tough to check in the actual world, so I’m going to should take Apple’s phrase for it.

Britta O’Boyle

Storage begins at 128GB and scales as much as 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB.  There’s no microSD enlargement, so selecting properly is vital – particularly for those who plan to shoot and edit video, obtain giant recreation installations, or preserve a sizeable offline media library. I feel Apple may have upped the bottom storage to 256GB right here, because it did with the iPhone 17e, however alas, that wasn’t to be this 12 months.

Cameras

• 12Mp rear f/1.8
• 12Mp entrance f/2.0
• Heart Stage

As with design and show, the digicam specs of the iPad Air (M4) haven’t modified from the (M3) both. Nonetheless, that’s arguably fantastic given how hardly ever most individuals use a pill digicam.

The 12Mp rear sensor with its f/1.8 aperture is competent for doc scanning, snapping a whiteboard in a gathering, or including a fast picture to a word. Making an attempt to make use of it as an precise digicam – significantly with a 13-inch mannequin held aloft in a public area – is an train I’d extremely suggest avoiding no matter what the specs say. Please, simply don’t.

Britta O’Boyle

The front-facing 12Mp digicam with its f/2.0 aperture is significantly extra helpful because of its panorama orientation. That placement means extra folks match into the body naturally for those who’re on a household video name, and it produces a extra flattering composition than a portrait-positioned lens, too. In the meantime, the Heart Stage expertise tracks you intelligently as you progress across the room so that you’re all the time in view, and the 1080p decision ensures you look sharp on the different finish.

Nothing on this division ought to persuade you to depart your cellphone in your pocket if you need to take a correct picture, however the iPad Air (M4)’s cameras do their jobs properly within the contexts the place pill cameras matter.

Battery Life & Charging

• All-day battery
• 20W charging

Apple’s declare of 10 hours of battery life applies to the iPad Air (M4) simply because it does to each different iPad within the firm’s present lineup. Yearly, the iPhone usually improves battery life although it’s normally not a spotlight on the subject of the iPad. However, within the iPad’s defence, that determine is broadly correct in follow. 

For gentle to reasonable use – I’m speaking e-mail, net shopping, note-taking, streaming video – the iPad Air (M4) comfortably pushes into the double digits, making a full working day on a single cost sensible. For these with heavier workloads, equivalent to prolonged video modifying periods, sustained gaming, or fixed writing utilizing the Magic Keyboard, the iPad Air (M4)’s battery will drain quicker.

Britta O’Boyle

The place the iPad Air (M4) continues to frustrate is charging. Whereas the iPad Professional (M5) gained quicker charging final 12 months, the iPad Air (M4) isn’t handled to the identical luxurious. As a substitute, the 20W ceiling feels conservative in comparison with what Android rivals supply and there’s no charging brick within the field, both. Reaching that 20W charge, then, requires buying a suitable charger individually.

In the end, the most effective recommendation I can provide is to plan to cost the iPad Air (M4) in a single day, or a minimum of give it a stable couple of hours earlier than a protracted day away from a plug. Whereas it does have a stable battery efficiency, for those who depend on a fast top-up and anticipate to be out the door at full capability, you’ll seemingly hit the crimson simply as you’re attempting to ship that final, important e-mail. 

Software program & Apps

• iPadOS 26
• Apple Intelligence
• New windowing system

The iPad Air (M4) runs iPadOS 26 out of the field, and this software program brings a extra succesful windowing system and a devoted Preview app for PDFs and markup – two options that assist make this pill really feel extra like a laptop computer different than any earlier iPadOS launch. The brand new windowing method offers apps extra flexibility when it comes to how they resize and overlap, which is a superb enchancment for anybody who makes use of the iPad Air as a productiveness system with a keyboard hooked up.

Apple Intelligence is absolutely supported right here, too, and with 12GB of RAM and the quicker Neural Engine of the M4, on-device AI duties run with out a problem. We’re nonetheless ready for a better and extra contextualised Siri, however there are already a few helpful options within the Apple Intelligence suite. Precedence Notifications is certainly one of my favourites, helpfully surfacing time-sensitive alerts, and I wouldn’t be with out Precedence Inbox now both, which pulls vital emails to the highest of your inbox.

Britta O’Boyle

The Writing Instruments, Clear Up in photographs, and transcription capabilities constructed into iPadOS 26 are additionally all accessible on the iPad Air (M4), and so they all come in useful in their very own methods.

On the entire, iPadOS stays a greater pill working system than Android options – the App Retailer choice is optimised for bigger screens, first-party apps are high-quality, and there’s the general polish of the expertise. The enhancements to multitasking in iPadOS 26 deal with some longstanding criticisms too, although energy customers who need true desktop-class window administration will most likely nonetheless discover the expertise extra constrained than macOS, and there’s no assist for a number of customers both.

Nonetheless, Apple usually helps its gadgets with software program updates for round seven years, that means the iPad Air (M4) ought to proceed receiving new options properly into the early 2030s. After I mentioned it’s future-proofed, I meant it.

Value & Availability

The iPad Air (M4) maintains the identical pricing as its predecessor: £599/$599 for the 11-inch mannequin with 128GB and Wi-Fi, and £799/$799 for the equal 13-inch model. Including mobile connectivity prices a further £150/$150 over Wi-Fi configurations. Storage could be upgraded to 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB throughout each sizes.

The highest-spec 11-inch mannequin with 1TB and mobile reaches £1,249/$1,249, at which level the iPad Professional begins to seem like a extra smart dialog. The Apple Pencil Professional provides £129/$129 and the Magic Keyboard begins from £299/$269, so you need to issue accent prices in earlier than committing in the event that they’re one thing you’ll need or want.

Pre-orders opened on 4 March 2026, with availability from 11 March. The iPad Air (M4) is accessible from Apple instantly, in addition to from Amazon, Currys and Argos within the UK, and Amazon, Finest Purchase, and different main retailers within the US.

Do you have to purchase the iPad Air (M4)?

The Apple iPad Air (2026) or iPad Air (M4) is the most effective model of the iPad Air that Apple has made. If you happen to’re shopping for a brand new pill and may stretch to the worth, there’s little or no motive to look elsewhere. The mix of the M4 chip, 12GB of reminiscence, Wi-Fi 7, and iPadOS 26 makes it extra future-proofed than any of its predecessors have been at launch.

If you happen to already personal an M3 iPad Air, you don’t must improve. The enhancements are there however unlikely to manifest as a noticeably completely different expertise in every day use for most individuals. If you happen to’re coming from an M1 or M2 mannequin – or from a non-Apple pill – the case is significantly stronger.

The absence of Face ID, the 60Hz show, and the sluggish charging are all shortcomings that really feel more and more onerous to justify at this value. However they don’t overshadow what’s in any other case an exceptionally achieved pill. The iPad Air (M4) is great.

Specs

• iPadOS 26
• 11in or 13in IPS LCD show
• 11in: 2360 x 1640 (264ppi, 500 nits) / 13in: 2732 x 2048 (264ppi, 600 nits)
• Stereo audio system
• Contact ID
• 12GB unified reminiscence, 120GB/s reminiscence bandwidth
• 128GB / 256GB / 512GB / 1TB storage
• Apple M4 (8-core CPU, 9-core GPU)
• Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, Thread (by way of N1 chip)
• 5G mobile with C1X modem (non-compulsory)
• eSIM
• 12Mp Panorama entrance digicam with Heart Stage, 1080p video
• 12Mp rear digicam, f/1.8
• USB-C, 20W charging
• 28.93Wh battery (11in) / 36.59Wh battery (13in)
• Accessible in Area Gray, Starlight, Blue, Purple
• 247.6 x 178.5 x 6.1mm (11-inch) / 280.6 x 214.9 x 6.1mm (13-inch)
• 460g (11in Wi-Fi) / 616g (13in Wi-Fi)