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As insiders were predicting, Apple has refreshed the iPad Air, 12 months after its last update. Meet the iPad Air M4.
The company’s mid-range tablet sees an upgrade to the M4 processor (with the M5 still reserved for the top-of-the-line iPad Pro) and gains an extra 4GB of RAM, while keeping prices static for another year.
The iPad Air M3 has been immediately retired, but retailers will be looking to clear stock, and there’s always the second-hand market for bargain hunters. Is it worth paying extra for the new version? And if you have the M3 iPad Air, should you be looking to upgrade? Here are the key differences.
iPad Air M4 vs iPad Air M3: Specs
| Row 0 - Cell 0 | iPad Air M4 | iPad Air M3 |
Starting price | $599 (11-inch), $799 (13-inch) | $599 (11-inch), $799 (13-inch) |
Display | 11-inch Liquid Retina display (2360 x 1640) | 13-inch Liquid Retina display (2732 x 2048) | 11-inch Liquid Retina display (2360 x 1640) | 13-inch Liquid Retina display (2732 x 2048) |
Chipset | Apple M4 chip | Apple M3 chip |
RAM | 12GB | 8GB |
Storage | 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB | 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB |
Rear camera | 12MP | 12MP |
Front camera | 12MP | 12MP |
Size | 9.74 x 7.02 x 0.24 inches (11-inch) | 11.04 x 8.46 x 0.24 inches (13-inch) | 9.74 x 7.02 x 0.24 inches (11-inch) | 11.04 x 8.46 x 0.24 inches (13-inch) |
Weight | 1.02 pounds (11-inch) | 1.36 pounds (13-inch) | 1.01 pounds (11-inch) | 1.35 pounds (13-inch) |
Colors | Blue, Purple, Starlight, Space Gray | Blue, Purple, Starlight, Space Gray |
iPad Air M4 vs iPad Air M3: Price
Despite the bump in specs, Apple has kept the price of the iPad Air M4 the same for another year. That means that the 11-inch model starts at $599, rising to $1,249 for a model with cellular connectivity and 1TB of storage. The 13-inch version, meanwhile, ranges from $799 to $1,449 for a fully souped-up model.
Of course, with the M3 model now old news, you may be able to get one for a lower price either through retailers clearing out old stock or through the second-hand market.
iPad Air M4 vs iPad Air M3: Design and display
The new iPad Air M4 looks pretty much identical to the M3 model, which in turn was pretty much indistinguishable from the M2 version.
It’s still available in 11- and 13-inch sizes, with the same dimensions: 9.74 x 7.02 x 0.24 inches for the 11-inch model, and 11.04 x 8.46 x 0.24 inches for the 13-inch version. Apple lists the weight as 0.1 pound heavier for both versions, so a negligible change there, too.
The screen technology is also the same LED used on the previous model, with plans to match the OLED on the iPad Pro not expected to materialize until next year. It’s 60Hz, too, with no ProMotion 120Hz upgrade, unfortunately.
So it’s a draw between the two tablets in terms of design and display. All the significant changes are on the inside.
iPad Air M4 vs iPad Air M3: Performance
The headline change is, of course, the introduction of Apple’s M4 chipset. Apple claims this will be a 30% boost in performance on the M3 iPad Air, or 2.3 times faster than the M1 model.
While we’ll be running benchmarks when we get our own review unit, we’ve seen how the M4 performs in tablet form before, thanks to the 2024 iPad Pro. Here’s a recap:
| Row 0 - Cell 0 | M3 (in iPad Air M3) | M4 (in 2024 iPad Pro) |
Geekbench (single core / dual core) | 3,042 / 11,804 | 3,700 / 14,523 |
3DMark WildLife | 5,806 / 34.8 fps | 8,529 / 51 fps |
The Apple M4 chip is also more efficient than its predecessor, which means you may see some advancement on the 9 hours and 41 minutes that the 11-inch iPad Air M3 achieved in our battery life test. That said, Apple only promises “all-day battery life” in the press release.
A bigger surprise is the upgrade in RAM. While the M3 iPad Air had 8GB — the minimum required for Apple Intelligence — the souped-up M4 version comes with 12GB RAM. Apple also says the memory bandwidth has increased to 120GB/s ensuring that AI models run faster than before.
Beyond the M4 and memory upgrades, the new iPad Air has a few other improvements hidden away inside. First introduced with the iPhone 17 family last September, the new iPad Air contains the N1 chip for Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and — if you spring for the cellular model — a C1X 5G modem.
Taking these one at a time, Wi-Fi 7 means better performance on supported routers, with higher speeds and lower latency. Apple’s own implementation seems to be more effective when using weaker Wi-Fi connections, too. Bluetooth 6 spells more reliable connections, lower latency and more efficient power use.
Apple’s own 5G modem technology will be introduced to cellular models of the iPad Air for the first time, too. The C1X 5G modem already features in the iPhone Air, and according to Apple, it was two times faster than the original C1 that debuted in the iPhone 16e. In tablet terms, Apple says it’s up to 50% faster with 30% less energy usage than the Qualcomm SDX70M modem found in the iPad Air M3.
iPad Air M4 vs iPad Air M3: Outlook
If you looked at the two iPad Air models side by side, you’d be unlikely to see much of a difference. But on the inside, the iPad Air M4 is clearly a faster and more efficient performer, thanks not just to the M4 chipset, but to 4GB extra RAM and improved wireless technologies.
Does that mean you should upgrade from an M3 version? Maybe if you’re a power user, but otherwise probably not.
That said, unless money is particularly tight, it would be a mistake to opt for the older iPad Air over the newer model if you’re looking to upgrade from an older model or are completely new to Apple’s tablets.
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