The latest iPad Air is far more than just a tablet. This touchscreen device now features an M4 chip inside, making it more powerful than most high-end laptops. Just using this wafer-thin machine to browse the internet, watch movies and play the odd Apple arcade game feels almost reductive. However, with a starting price of just £599 / $599, you can do just that, and not feel like you’ve wasted your cash.
If your existing iPad is getting on in years, or looking worse for wear, there are a lot of reasons why you might pick the iPad Air M4 as your next model. Or maybe you’ve never made the jump to buying an iPad, and you’re looking for your first model. These are the reasons I believe the iPad Air should not only be on your shortlist, but should be your best option.
1. M4 power
To give you a rough idea of how much power is in the M4 silicon chip, it’s important to see where it’s come from. First launched in May 2024, it originally powered the iPad Pro, MacBook Pro and iMac. It offers up to 1.5% the performance of the M2 chip and around double that of M1 devices.
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If you’ve previously used a non-M-chip iPad, the difference is even greater. This iPad runs like a Mac, especially when you get into serious processing-heavy tasks. Want to edit video in Final Cut Pro? No problem. Create a 30-piece arrangement? Piece of cake. Create 3D renders of a new product? No sweat.
(Image credit: Future)
2. Game on
Another big advantage of the M4 chip is its ray tracing ability. This not only aids those creating 3D animations, but also means those 3D games look even more real.
Gaming on the iPad Air is next level experience thanks to the ray tracing, bringing exceptional levels of detail to games, allowing you to play even AAA titles in their optimum settings.
(Image credit: Future)
3. Laptop alternative?
While you might not want to completely replace your laptop with an iPad Air, it’s certainly powerful enough to take on almost any task while on the move. By pairing the iPad Air M4 with a Magic Keyboard it behaves just like a Mac – especially if you use the Stage Manager tool in iPad OS 26.
With the keyboard attached it’s easy to forget that this is still an iPad, as it runs most of the same programs and lets you work as you would on a MacBook. The 13-inch model is probably the best option for this, though an 11-inch model with a keyboard is a super compact solution for when you’d rather not carry a larger machine.
(Image credit: Future)