Apple iPad Air (2026) M4 vs. iPad Air M3: These are the differences
While the new Apple iPad Air 11 (2026) is only a minor upgrade from last year’s model, there are still some noteworthy changes besides the new chip. The eighth-generation iPad Air builds on last year’s model and offers a number of targeted improvements in performance, storage, and connectivity.
The design and user experience remain essentially the same, but the new Apple iPad Air (2026) features the M4 chipset, additional memory, Apple-designed wireless hardware, and support for newer connectivity standards. Here are all the differences between the 2025 and 2026 iPad Air models:
Apple iPad Air (2026) vs iPad Air (2025)
| Apple iPad Air (2025) M3 | Apple iPad Air (2026) M4 |
|---|---|
| M3 chip | M4 chip |
| 8GB unified memory | 12GB unified memory |
| Broadcom wireless chip | Apple N1 Wireless-Chip |
| Wi-Fi 6E | Wi-Fi 7 |
| Bluetooth 5.3 | Bluetooth 6 |
| Qualcomm SDX70M 5G modem | Apple C1X modem |
The biggest difference between the two iPad Air models is the switch from Apple’s M3 chip to the newer M4. Besides a moderate increase in CPU performance, the M4 offers architectural improvements that increase the number of transistors, boost machine learning performance, improve memory bandwidth, and increase efficiency through updated manufacturing technology and redesigned cores.
M3 vs. M4
| M3 Chip | M4 Chip |
|---|---|
| Made using TSMC’s 3nm technology (N3) | Made using TSMC’s enhanced 3nm technology (N3E) |
| Based on iPhone 15 Pro’s A17 Pro chip (2023) | Basierend auf dem A18-Chip des iPhone 16 (2024) |
| 25 billion transistors | 28 billion transistors (+12%) |
| 8-core CPU (4 performance + 4 efficiency cores) | 8-core CPU (3 performance + 5 efficiency cores) |
| 4.05 GHz CPU clock speed | 4.3 GHz CPU clock speed |
| 16-core Neural Engine, 18 trillion operations per second | 16-core Neural Engine, 38 trillion operations per second (+111%) |
| LPDDR5 memory | LPDDR5X memory |
| 100 GB/s memory bandwidth | 120 GB/s memory bandwidth (+20%) |
| Dedicated display engine | |
| GPU with standard power efficiency | More power-efficient GPU: Maintains performance with significantly less power |
Overall, the improvements from the 2025 iPad Air to the 2026 iPad Air are rather minor. The new model does, however, feature a faster M4 chip, more integrated memory, and newer wireless technologies, but the overall experience remains essentially unchanged.
Same battery life as before
Apple itself clarifies how minor the update is: The company continues to advertise the same battery life, despite the more efficient C1X modem. The Apple iPad Air (2026) still offers the same color options and even the same wallpapers. For the vast majority of iPad Air users, the performance difference between the two models is likely to be negligible, especially for everyday tasks.
The new Apple iPad Air (2026) is aimed primarily at buyers looking for a powerful and well-balanced iPad, rather than those seeking a major upgrade from a newer model. The Air remains positioned in Apple’s mid-range price segment, offering significantly more performance and features than the entry-level iPad, yet it is considerably less expensive than the iPad Pro.
Thanks to the M4 chip, larger RAM, and newer connectivity standards like Wi-Fi 7, buyers receive more modern hardware, which improves the Apple iPad Air (2026) also becomes more future-proof.
However, for existing users, there is only a partial reason to upgrade – depending on where you’re coming from. Those who have an iPad Air with M3 processor will only notice minimal advantages in everyday use by switching to the M4 model. However, compared to the M1 and M2 iPads, the differences are regularly quite noticeable.
