iPad Air (M3) vs iPad Air (M4)

Apple announced iPad Air (M3) on 4 March 2025 and iPad Air (M4) almost exactly a year later, on 2 March 2026, and kept the case: the 11-inch is still 247.6 × 178.5 × 6.1 mm and the 13-inch 280.6 × 214.9 × 6.1 mm. The M3 reached stores on 12 March 2025. The M4 took pre-orders from 4 March and reached stores on 11 March 2026, and it’s the Air Apple sells now.

Apple says the M4 Air has 50 percent more memory and is up to 30 percent faster than the M3 Air. The memory figure is simply 12GB against 8GB; the speed figure is Apple’s claim. For an M3 owner, that’s the whole case for upgrading: if 8GB is the limit you keep running into, or you want Wi-Fi 7 or the C1X modem, the M4 fixes it. If not, keep the M3, because Pencil Pro, Touch ID, the landscape stereo speakers and the USB 3 port are already yours.

Memory and radios are the changes

Spec	iPad Air (M3)	iPad Air (M4)
Announced	4 March 2025; in stores 12 March 2025	2 March 2026; in stores 11 March 2026
Chip	M3: 8-core CPU (4 performance, 4 efficiency), 9-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine	M4: 8-core CPU (3 performance, 5 efficiency), 9-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Memory	8GB on every storage size	12GB on every storage size
Memory bandwidth	Not published	120GB/s
Wireless	Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax), Bluetooth 5.3	Apple N1: Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be), Bluetooth 6, Thread
Cellular modem	5G, eSIM; not C1X	C1X, 5G, eSIM
Weight, 11-inch	460 g Wi-Fi and cellular	464 g Wi-Fi; 465 g cellular
Rear camera	12MP Wide, f/1.8	12MP Wide, f/1.8, sapphire crystal lens cover
Recycled content	Not published	100% recycled aluminum enclosure; 30% overall
Screen	11-inch: 2360 × 1640, 500 nits; 13-inch: 2732 × 2048, 600 nits	Same
Weight, 13-inch	616 g Wi-Fi; 617 g cellular	Same
Storage	128GB to 1TB	Same
Apple Pencil	Pencil Pro and USB-C, with hover	Same
Port	USB 3 up to 10Gb/s; one display up to 6K at 60 Hz	Same
Battery	28.93 Wh (11-inch), 36.59 Wh (13-inch); up to 10 hours	Same
US launch price	Wi-Fi $599 (11-inch), $799 (13-inch); cellular $749, $949	Same
Finishes	Blue, Purple, Starlight, Space Gray	Same
Location	Every model: compass, Wi-Fi, iBeacon. Cellular: GPS and GNSS	Same

Twelve gigabytes on every M4

Memory isn’t an option you pick on either Air. Every M3 has 8GB and every M4 has 12GB, from 128GB of storage up to 1TB, and there’s no 16-gigabyte Air. A listing that offers an M3 with 12GB or an M4 with 8GB has the model wrong. Neither takes a microSD card.

Both chips keep eight CPU cores, but the mix changed: M3 has four performance and four efficiency cores, M4 three and five. Both have a 9-core GPU with hardware-accelerated ray tracing and a 16-core Neural Engine, and Apple gives the M4 a memory bandwidth of 120 gigabytes per second, with no figure for the M3.

Wi-Fi 7, Thread and the C1X modem

Every M4 Air has Apple’s N1 chip, with Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) where your network supports it, Bluetooth 6 and Thread. The M3 has Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax) and Bluetooth 5.3, and no Thread. On a Wi-Fi 6 router, Wi-Fi 7 won’t show up as extra speed.

Cellular is a separate model of each, $150 over Wi-Fi at both launches ($749 for the 11-inch, $949 for the 13-inch), and both are eSIM only. The M4’s cellular models use Apple’s C1X modem, which Apple says is up to 50 percent faster and uses up to 30 percent less energy than the modem in the M3 Air. The M3’s is 5G with 4x4 MIMO and Gigabit LTE. Wi-Fi models of either have no cellular radio.

The screen and the case stayed

Both screens are LED-backlit IPS Liquid Retina panels, fully laminated, with P3 color, True Tone and Pencil hover. On the 11-inch, the panel measures 10.86 inches as a rectangle and has 2360 × 1640 pixels at 264 per inch, with a 500-nit rating; the 13-inch has 2732 × 2048 pixels, also at 264 per inch, and a 600-nit rating. For the M4, Apple gives the 13-inch’s diagonal as 12.9 inches measured as a rectangle, but the case hasn’t grown, so neither has the picture. There’s no ProMotion or 120 Hz on either, and no 1600-nit HDR peak; those are iPad Pro features.

The 11-inch M4 is a few grams heavier, 464 grams with Wi-Fi and 465 with cellular, against 460 for both M3 versions; the 13-inch models match at 616 and 617 grams. The rear camera is still a 12MP Wide at f/1.8 with 4K video at up to 60 frames per second, now under a sapphire crystal lens cover on the M4. Both front cameras are a landscape 12MP Center Stage camera at f/2.0. Touch ID unlocks both, and neither has LiDAR.

Battery, charging and accessories

The batteries are the same 28.93 watt-hours in the 11-inch and 36.59 in the 13-inch, and so are the ratings: up to 10 hours of Wi-Fi web or video, or up to 9 hours of web use on cellular. Apple rated the M4 using preproduction units in January and February 2026 at 50 percent brightness. Each box has the iPad, a 1-meter USB-C charge cable and a 20-watt USB-C power adapter, and Apple gives neither Air a fast-charge time.

Keyboards attach through the Smart Connector on both and cost extra. The Magic Keyboard for iPad Air that Apple announced with the M4 has a floating design, a 14-key function row and USB-C on the hinge, in black or white, and came without a price in the announcement. For the M3, Apple later listed Magic Keyboard for iPad Air at $269 for the 11-inch and $319 for the 13-inch, in black, so check which keyboard fits the Air you buy.

The colors are the same four: Blue, Purple, Starlight and Space Gray. For the M4, Apple states 100 percent recycled aluminum in the enclosure and 30 percent recycled content overall. Apple’s M4 announcement highlighted iPadOS 26 windowing and Apple Intelligence, and Apple Intelligence is listed for both models, with region and language limits.

What they cost

The M4 didn’t raise the price. At launch it cost exactly what the M3 had, Wi-Fi, cellular and education models alike, and gave you 12GB, N1 and C1X for the money. A discounted M3 only makes sense if 8GB and Wi-Fi 6E are enough and the gap is real. The pencil and keyboard are extra on both; check Apple’s current prices for the whole setup before you buy.

Skip both if you want tandem OLED, a 1600-nit HDR peak, four speakers, Face ID, LiDAR or Thunderbolt. That’s iPad Pro (M5), from $999, covered in iPad Air (M4) vs iPad Pro (M5). If you want a tablet near 300 grams, the 8.3-inch iPad mini (A17 Pro) is the small one.