The M4 chip set comes to the iPad Air lineup. Pre-orders are open now over at Apple’s website and Amazon. Prices match the same launch prices as the last generation’s M3-chip powered iPad Air tablets. You have two sized to choose from. The 11-inch iPad Air starts at just $599 while the slight larger 13-inch model starts a couple hundred more at $799. Not a bad deal considering the extra boost in performance the new chips set has over the old.
The M4 is supposedly 30% faster when stacked up against the previous M3 chip used on the last generation Apple tablets. Memory is also seeing a notable upgrade. This generation is boosting up from 8GB to 12GB, which should also do quite a bit to improve performance and responsiveness. Memory bandwidth has too been bumped up to 120GB/s in order to keep up with the demanding needs of AI models.
iPad Air Model Breakdown
Both sizes of the new iPad Air M4 comes with your choice of storage capacity. To keep them at their starting prices of $599 and $799, you’ll be going with the 128GB versions. For every 128GB, you’ll be adding $100. For 256GB models, the 11-inch hits $699 while the 13-inch hits $899. Doubling that to 512GB, you’ll pay $899 for the 11-inch and $1,099 for the 13-inch. Then to move up to a full 1TB, the 11-inch will cost $1,099 while the 13-inch will cost $1,299.
These prices also reflect the Wi-Fi only models. to Add in cellular capabilities, just tack on $250 to the price tags above.
You can bring the price down a bit when you trade ion your old tablet. Depending on the manufacturer and model of your old device, you can shave off anywhere from $40 to $570 from the price on the new iPad Air M4.
The colors offers are sleek but subtle. You have your traditional space gray and starlight, or you can go with something with a little more flair like the blue or the purple. Even so, those latter too are muted in tone so as not to looks like a children’s toy.
The new iPad Air with the M4 chipset is set to release March 11. Pre-orders are open now so head on over to Apple and Amazon to secure yours so you can get it on release day. Right now, you’ll also receive three months free of Creator Studio. This includes a variety of design, editing, and productivity apps including Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, Pixelmaster Pro, and more.