Apple launches iPad Air with M4 chip, price starts at Rs 64,900 in India: Here’s what’s new

Days ahead of the Apple launch event on March 4, Apple has announced two of its expected devices, the iPhone 17e and the M4-powered iPad Air. The new iPad Air flaunts upgraded performance, enhanced connectivity, and new iPadOS 26 features. Priced at just Rs 64,900, the iPad Air (M4) is said to be up to 30 per cent faster than the iPad Air with M3, making it a noticeable upgrade. 

iPad Air with M4 chip: What’s new

The new-generation iPad Air comes with the same 11-inch and 13-inch display sizes. It is powered by Apple’s latest M4 processor that consists of an 8-core CPU, a 9-core GPU and a 16-core Neural Engine, offering up to 30 percent faster performance than M3 iPad Air and up to 2.3x faster than M1 iPad Air. 

Apple says, “Users will notice the blazing speed of M4 in everything they do — with Apple Creator Studio, compositing photos in Pixelmator Pro or editing video in Final Cut Pro is quicker than ever.” In addition, the new iPad Air gets unified memory to 12GB, and memory bandwidth increases to 120GB/s, enabling AI models to run faster.

The tablet is also equipped with N1chip, its wireless networking chip that enables Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread. Furthermore, it features a 12MP Centre Stage camera located at the top centre of the display.

In terms of software, the M4 iPad Air runs on iPadOS 26, which brings new productivity features such as a new windowing system to control, organise, and switch between apps and a new menu bar. The Files app gets updated List view and new folder customisation options. The Preview app on iPad will allow users to sketch, view, edit, and mark up PDFs and images with Apple Pencil or by touch, and much more.

The M4 iPad Air also comes with support for Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil Pro and Apple Pencil (USB-C), which will be sold separately. 

M4 iPad Air price in India and availability 

The M4-powered iPad Air will be available in blue, purple, starlight, and space grey colour variants. The price for the 11-inch iPad Air starts at Rs 64,900 for the Wi-Fi model, and Rs 79,900 for the Wi-Fi + Cellular model. Whereas the 13-inch model comes at a starting price of Rs 84,900 for the Wi-Fi model, and Rs 99,900 for the Wi-Fi + Cellular.

Pre-order for the M4 iPad Air starts on March 4, at apple.com and in the Apple Store app. Sales will go live on March 11 at apple.com and authorised retail stores.