Apple speeds up the iPad Air with an M4 upgrade, starting at $599

Apple on Monday unveiled a new iPad Air that’s powered by the M4 chip.

The company says the device is designed to be faster, thanks to an updated neural engine and more memory, making it better for AI uses. This Air is said to be 30% faster than the M3 iPad Air and 2.3x faster than the M1 version.

However, the new device still retails for the same price of $599 for the 11-inch model, and $799 for the 13-inch model. For educational customers, the discount brings the price down to $549 for the 11-inch iPad Air, while the 13-inch model starts at $749.

The iPad Air now has an 8-core CPU and a 9-core GPU, which makes it a decent choice for gaming or image and photo editing. Meanwhile, the device’s unified memory has increased by 50% to 12GB, and the memory bandwidth is now up to 120GB/s, which Apple says will help users run AI models faster than on older devices.

The 16-core Neural Engine is also supposed to be 3x faster than the one in the M1, which helps with running on-device AI models.

The refreshed Air brings support for Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6, and is powered by the company’s new connectivity chips for wireless and cellular, the N1 and C1X. The devices are still the same size as before, at 9.74 x 7.02 inches for the 11-inch model and 11.04 x 8.46 inches for the 13-inch model.

We get a front, 12MP Center Stage camera and a 12MP Wide camera on the back. As always, you can use Apple accessories with the device, like the Magic Keyboard, Apple Pencil or Apple Pencil Pro.

The updated iPad Air will be available for pre-order on Wednesday, March 4, on Apple.com and via the Apple Store app in 35 countries and regions, including the U.S. Four finishes are available: blue, purple, starlight, and space gray. Storage options are 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB.

The new iPad is one of several announcements planned for this week, alongside the new iPhone 17e and expected upgrades to the MacBook lineup. The launches have been timed to coincide with Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, where Apple’s smartphone rivals like Samsung, Xiaomi, Honor and others are showing off their latest innovations and new hardware.

Apple doesn’t participate in MWC or other trade shows, preferring to show off its products at its own events. This week, it’s releasing a series of new products with hands-on events in select cities.