Apple’s iPad Air gets more speed with M4

If you felt a change in the wind when you pulled out your wallet to buy tech in the past couple of weeks — or maybe even heard our words on the radio when we talked about it — you might have had the good fortune to just wait.

Change was in the air, and new gear is definitely on the way.

We knew it was coming because of Mobile World Congress, and because regular update cycles demand it, but also because when Apple talks up an event being inbound, there’s often associated rumours and releases around that time, as well.

And right on cue, here’s another: a new iPad Air.

It’s been about a year since we reviewed the M3 iPad Air, so it makes sense that another should pop along.

This year’s is the iPad Air featuring M4, a model that will just likely be known as the M4 iPad Air, which sees a little more than a new chip, but not much more.

The Apple Silicon M4 is clearly the star of the upgrade, a feature change you may not see a huge jump in for most apps, but will definitely be there in benchmarks. You only need to see our previous benchmarks to get that vibe.

Like its predecessor, the 2026 Air will come in 11 inch and 13 inch versions, with support for the Apple Pencil Pro and Magic Keyboard case.

Unlike its predecessors, its will see new networking and mobile chips. The apple N1 will cover WiFi 7, Bluetooth 6, and support for Thread, while the Apple C1X brings eSIM support with 5G.

It also gets more memory on the inside, boosted to 12GB, with the iPad Air starting from 128GB storage at $999 in Australia for the 11 inch model, and $1349 for the 13 inch.

Unlike its iPad Pro sibling, you won’t see the faster screen technology or super slim design, which is largely left for folks keen to pay just that little bit more.

However, like the iPhone 17e also announced this week, the M4 iPad Air will see release from March 11.