As Apple’s middle of the road iPad, the iPad Air is easy to recommend to someone looking for a computer that does a little bit more than the base iPad. And while the Air hasn’t seen a substantial update in years, its yearly chip refreshes ensure that it stays up-to-date with modern performance.

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I’m not someone that’s looking for a revolutionary rethink of a product every six months. But it feels like Apple is really treading water with the iPad Air. For an iPad that is sometimes promoted as bringing Pro features down to a lower price point, this is another year where the Air doesn’t get anything new from the Pro.

Not ProMotion. Not OLED. Not Face ID.

When the $599 iPhone 17e gets you OLED and Face ID on top of more base storage and the $799 iPhone 17 gets you all of those features, the Air starts to feel less like a great value, and more like an iPad that’s stuck in the past.

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Pros	Cons
M4 chip is faster and more efficient than the M3	The display is missing some key advancements
12GB of RAM for all models	No Visual Intelligence support
iPadOS 26 improves the “laptop” experience	128 GB base storage feels stingy in 2026

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Table of Contents

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The Hardware is Good, But Only Good

This time around, I picked up a base model 13-inch Air in “purple” with 128 GB of storage and 12 GB of RAM.

The color selection is the same as the past two refreshes, and I still find myself wanting more. The muted color palette has outlived whatever novelty it once had. Buyers have responded positively to stronger colors on both the MacBook Neo and the iPhone 17 Pro. I’d be fine if Apple stuck with the same colors, but please make them more saturated. I’m tired of my iPad Air’s looking grey/silver unless the light hits them just right.

The M4 Air reuses the same design we’ve seen for the past four refreshes, and outside of the color selections, it still looks great. Apple is going to be hard pressed to improve upon this general design, outside of maybe adjusting the bezels slightly. On the Air, they are a bit larger than the ones on the iPad Pro, but in normal use, you won’t care and will be happy to have somewhere to put your fingers while you hold the tablet.

Yesterday’s Display

The display on the iPad Air is unchanged from the previous two generations with both an 11 inch and 13 inch model available. For the iPad Air, Apple rounds these numbers up, so you’re really looking at 10.9 inch and 12.9 inch sized displays, respectively. The screens are fully laminated and support a P3 Wide Color gamut, just as before. The 11 inch display has a max brightness of 500 nits, while the 13 inch can go up to 600 nits, making the larger tablet the slightly better option if you plan on using your computer outdoors.

I say “slightly”, because neither size fares particularly well outdoors (I’m using an 11 inch M3 iPad Air as part of this comparison). Despite the anti-reflective coating, these displays can’t compare to the iPad Pro’s screen which can go up to 1000 nits of full screen brightness, and that’s before we even get to the (expensive) nano-texture option.

Compared to the rest of the iPads, the Air’s display is good, and second only to the iPad Pro. But looking more broadly among Apple’s portfolio, the Air’s display feels dated. Now that standard iPhone 17’s display has both OLED and ProMotion up to 120hz, it makes it a little harder to stomach that the Air’s display hasn’t meaningfully advanced in years.

On the other hand, the MacBook Air, formerly the “best value” Mac laptop before the MacBook Neo showed up, has had a 60 hz display for years with barely a peep from reviewers, so maybe it’s not as big of a deal as I’m making it.

The iPad Air is overdue for ProMotion display, if nothing else. Keeping OLED on the iPad Pro as a premium feature is fine-ish, but the smooth scrolling experience needs to move beyond just the iPad Pro. It’s not like Apple hasn’t done this with standard LCD displays. The ProMotion feature itself debuted on the 2017 iPad Pro, long before that line moved to Mini-LED and then OLED.

With screens that you directly manipulate with touch, the responsiveness of a variable refresh rate display really helps to connect you to your content. It’s way past time to bring this experience to the more mainstream iPads, like the Air.

More Power From the M4

The move to the M4 chip is the biggest upgrade the iPad Air gets for this generation. This 8 core CPU features 3 performance cores and 5 efficiency cores.

In everyday use, you will be hard pressed to feel any difference whatsoever between the M4 Air and the M3 Air, or even the M2 model. That’s not a bad thing, because iPadOS is very well optimized for what would be considered “low-end” specs in the traditional PC world.

Unlike the iPad Pro, the Air continues to come in a single chip configuration, but thankfully, Apple has made that configuration even better this year.

The RAM getting bumped to 12 GB was a welcome surprise with the M4 generation. “Future proofing” isn’t truly a thing in consumer technology, but the additional RAM will make sure high end apps like Final Cut Pro, ZBrush, or Procreate can perform at their best. And with the forthcoming improvements to Siri and Apple Intelligence later this year, the more RAM the better for running on-device AI.

With all that said, this is another place where I’d be lying if I said I felt any day to day difference. Again, thanks to the efficiency of iPadOS, RAM is much less of a consideration than it used to be as most iPads come with a minimum of 8 GB.

Navigating the timeline and adding effects in Final Cut Pro felt as smooth as it does on either of my iPad Pros with 12 GB or 16 GB of RAM. I’m not a Procreate user, but I know that the amount of layers you can have your canvas scales with the amount of available RAM on device. So, if you’re an artist considering an iPad as one of your tools, the Air with additional RAM is probably the best value for you.

Audio & Sound

The iPad Air includes a two speaker landscape stereo speaker system that continues to produce impressive results for its thin profile. Some people don’t like this, but I love the feeling of the sound reverberating through the metal body when you turn the volume up.

Sound quality is not as good as the iPad Pro with its four speaker audio set, but I never felt like I was missing out when casually listening to music or podcasts on the Air. A pair of headphones is almost always going to give you better sound quality, but if you were using the speakers for listening to a podcast while in the shower or watching a recipe while you’re cooking, you won’t be disappointed by the quality or volume of the sound you get out of the M4 Air.

The Air comes with two microphones that work well for picking up your voice during FaceTime calls. They aren’t advertised as “studio-quality” as the four mics on the iPad Pro are, but they work fine in a pinch. Almost any other microphone solution is going to be a better solution here.

The Same Underutilized Cameras

The cameras on the M4 Air are unchanged from the previous version. You get a 12 MP camera on the front, which has been somewhat rebranded to call out that it uses AI (formerly Machine Learning) to power the Center Stage feature that pans and zooms to keep you in frame.

The rear camera is still 12 MP and it’s just fine for taking casual photos or video. I wouldn’t mind seeing some of the improvements from more recent iPhones in the Air, but I get it. For most people, the Air’s “good enough” camera is plenty for what you’re likely to use a tablet camera for.

For reasons I still can’t fathom, the rear 12 MP camera still doesn’t have a rear flash, which I use often for walking around in the dark without disturbing others. The Pro has one. The Mini has one. Not sure why the Air gets skipped.

The rear camera has no support for Apple’s Visual Intelligence feature, that uses AI to identify objects in the camera’s viewfinder and summarize or perform actions on them. This omission isn’t unique to the iPad Air, all iPads lack this feature, but since this is an Air review, it gets called out here. If you struggle to find a use for the rear camera on your iPad, AI features like this are a clear benefit, and it’s a shame that Apple has seemingly decided the iPad isn’t a tool for conveniences like this.

Thermals Improve, But There’s Still That Hot Spot

I’ve seen some complaints over the last year that the M3 iPad Air ran warm, compared to its predecessor, even though I didn’t anecdotally find it to get any warmer than Apple’s other iPads at the time. The M4 was built on a more efficient manufacturing process, so you’d think the M4 Air would feel more like the M4 or M5 iPad Pro when running under load.

It turns out, the graphite sheets in the iPad Pro are doing a lot of heavy lifting in terms of spreading the heat generated from the chip around the chassis. The M4 Air has more of a “hot spot” than the M4 Pro before it. That spot feels roughly the same as the M3 Air’s, along the landscape edge of the device near the Apple Pencil charger. I still don’t find that it gets so hot that it’s uncomfortable to touch, but the heat is still focused on a single area when gaming or a long writing session.

Better Connectivity Through Apple

The M4 Air gains support for Wifi 7 and Bluetooth 6 through Apple’s N1 networking chip, which is great from a “keeping up with the times perspective”. In reality, since I don’t have Wifi 7 or Bluetooth 6 hardware, I can’t test how well they do or don’t work. I will say there was no noticeable difference in wifi or bluetooth stability between the Air and any of the other devices I have, so nothing seems to be worse in this department.

My iPad Air is wifi only which means it doesn’t get Apple’s C1X modem, which comes to the Air with this M4 model. I’ll refer you to my commentary from my M5 iPad Pro review from last year, but when I tested it then, I didn’t feel there was a measurable benefit or drawback to Apple’s chip, in my daily use. I expect that is the same with the Air as well.

iPadOS 26 Makes the iPad Air a Better Laptop Alternative

A year ago, when I was writing my M3 iPad Air review, we had no inkling of the massive update Apple had in store with iPadOS 26. For users with more keyboard oriented workflows, the windowing improvements were transformative. The results were a little more mixed for users that favored touch. Truthfully, many users in the iPad community are still trying to figure out how to cope with the new, more Mac-like windowing model.

The M4 iPad Air runs iPadOS 26, currently version 26.4, with no issue. It’s smooth and responsive, and the various Liquid Glass effects look great on this display.

That may be more of a subjective viewpoint. Opinions are certainly divided on Apple’s new design language, which isn’t surprising. Big changes are often divisive. If people are “meh” on a redesign, it’s a sign the company isn’t pushing hard enough to create something new. That being said, my heart goes out to anyone having legitimate readability issues with Liquid Glass. Apple can’t fix those types of issues fast enough.

There aren’t any specific customizations or features for the M4 Air, so you’re getting the bog-standard iPadOS experience, as you would expect.

On the 13 inch iPad Air, I use it in Windowed Apps mode, with some apps in full screen and some apps in windows, depending on the device orientation. This feels like a very natural way to use the tablet, either with or without the keyboard. I have this theory that the windowing changes in iPadOS 26 were intended for a larger iPad Pro that Apple never shipped, which is why windows feel so much better to use on the 13 inch models than the smaller ones.

There are still bugs, especially around using the Air with an external display. Moving windows between the iPad and the monitor can result in weird graphical glitches on the iPad display. Opening an app on the monitor for the first time on the display opens it in full screen, which is a strange default leading to a weird experience on my 27 inch Studio Display. And of course, depending on how updated the apps you’re using are, video conferencing support when plugged into a display may be just what you expect, where the external camera gets used, or completely broken where the app doesn’t see the display’s camera, or shows it in the wrong orientation.

There’s not really a ton else to say about iPadOS on the M4 Air except that in spite of the bugs, it makes this device more capable and flexible.

Accessories

SlatePad is largely a self-funded endeavor, so I did not purchase the Magic Keyboard for iPad Air as part of this review. However, I do still have the original Magic Keyboard (in white, of course) for my 12.9 inch M1 iPad Pro, that fits the M4 Air perfectly, as they essentially use the same chassis. The downside is that the original keyboard did not include a function row (someone at Apple felt like we could do without a function row – see the TouchBar – around that time, and I don’t completely disagree with them). But if you’re okay without a function row, a used Magic Keyboard is a good way to save some money on a very expensive accessory.

I’ve been using the Apple Pencil Pro with my M4 Air, in combination with an “paper-feel” ESR screen protector since I will mostly be using this iPad for note taking. It works just as well as any other iPad that supports it, with nothing of note to report here.

Pricing

One of my biggest complaints with the M4 Air is its pricing (though honestly, the entire lineup needs a pricing rethink). On one hand, you get a powerful 11-inch tablet with a powerful chip and 12 GB of RAM for $599. But that base config only comes with 128 GB of storage. Last year, that felt expansive, because we were finally moving on from the 64 GB of base storage that is rendering some iPad borderline unusable today. But the fact that every piece of Mac hardware now starts with 256 GB makes this harder to swallow. Even the iPhone 17e at the same starting price as the iPad Air comes with a 256 GB SSD.

Something’s not right there.

We’re not quite at the point where 128 GB is unusable, so I don’t view this as a crisis, by any means. But Apple Intelligence, for example, currently takes up about 8 GB of space on the system. I imagine that amount of required space for on-device AI models is only going to grow. 256 GB should really be the minimum here.

MacBook Neo or iPad Air?

The elephant in the room this time around for the iPad Air is the brand new MacBook Neo, the first affordable Mac laptop. The Neo starts at the same $599 as the iPad Air, but has a larger 13 inch display, 256 GB of storage, and includes a keyboard and trackpad.

Some reviewers have noted that the cost of the equivalent Air plus the Magic Keyboard gets close to twice as much as the Neo by itself. And while those reviewers aren’t wrong to point that out, they generally don’t point out the things you lose with the Neo.

• The Air has a more powerful chip
• The Air comes with 12 GB of RAM over the Neo’s 8 GB.
• The Air’s front camera supports Center Stage
• The Neo has no rear camera
• The Neo has no touchscreen
• The Neo doesn’t support Apple Pencil

Another consideration is that Apple’s expensive Magic Keyboard is not the only keyboard case option. Companies like ESR (disclosure: they’ve provided product to me for some videos) have been making less expensive bluetooth keyboard cases for years.

In the end, if you want a laptop and nothing else, for $599, you’ll be hard pressed to do better than the MacBook Neo. But let’s not pretend the benefits the Air has over the Neo have no value.

Buying Advice

Vs. The iPad Pro

There was a time when the distinction between the iPad Pro and iPad Air was kind of fuzzy, but those days are long gone. The Pro is $400 more expensive and comes with a clear set of benefits like the OLED display, ProMotion, improved performance, more speakers, better thermals, and a thinner design.

If you plan on upgrading the storage on your iPad Air beyond 256 GB, consider looking at the iPad Pro instead, or better yet, see if you can find a better deal on a used or refurbished M4 iPad Pro.

Vs. The iPad (a16)

While I believe the iPad Air is probably the most balanced iPad in the lineup, I generally start with recommending people go with the base iPad. If you’re a casual iPad user, or you only use your iPad for one thing, like note taking, this remains the most sensible option.

Artists will likely benefit from the laminated screen on the Air and those looking to use their iPad for more productivity work will benefit from the external display support on the Air as well. You’re also going to get better longevity from the iPad Air with its M-Series chip. This may be important if you’re a student that’s looking for an iPad that is going to remain fast and responsive throughout your college career.

Conclusion

The iPad Air is great, but has been stagnating the past few generations. With essentially no real competition in the tablet market, Apple can afford to coast with the iPad Air with no real consequences.

I sometimes think back to an interview Phil Schiller did with Stephen Levy a few years ago where he presented his perspective on how each Apple product category should be pushing each other.

The job of the watch is to do more and more things on your wrist so that you don’t need to pick up your phone as often. The job of the phone is to do more and more things such that maybe you don’t need your iPad, and it should be always trying and striving to do that. The job of the iPad should be to be so powerful and capable that you never need a notebook. Like, Why do I need a notebook? I can add a keyboard! I can do all these things! The job of the notebook is to make it so you never need a desktop, right?

I feel like this should also be true within product lines as well. As an iPad Pro user, I should be tempted by the iPad Air. It should be gaining more “Pro” level features so that the iPad Pro can continue to evolve and get pushed forward. The iPad Air is still easy to recommend, but I continue to wish it felt like more than just a collection of leftover iPad Pro parts from 2017.