Apple started the first week of March 2026 with the announcement of the latest iPad Air, and it is packing the new M4 chip. We are also seeing Apple’s own N1 and C1X wireless chips making an appearance in this tablet.
If you are currently rocking last year’s M3 model, you will see a respectable 30% boost in speed, but the real magic happens if you are upgrading from an older M1 device. In that case, you are looking at more than double the performance, which is a massive leap for anyone doing a bit of heavy lifting on their slate.
Under the hood, that M4 silicon is sporting an 8-core CPU and a 9-core GPU, alongside a 16-core Neural Engine that is three times faster than what we had in the M1. They have also bumped the memory up to 12GB from the previous 8GB, and with 120GB/s bandwidth, but the base storage still starts at 128GB.
On the wireless side of things, the new N1 chip brings Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and even Thread support for your smart home gear. If you go for the 5G version, the new C1X modem is offering 50% faster speeds while being much kinder to your battery life than the old M3 versions.
However, it is not all sunshine and rainbows. For some reason, Apple has decided to stick with an LCD display and a 60Hz refresh rate. In 2026, that feels a bit behind the times. It is a bit of a shame for those hoping for a smoother scrolling experience or those punchier OLED colours.
Pricing and Availability
If you fancy picking one up, the 11-inch model starts at RM2,799 for the Wi-Fi version, or RM3,499 if you need mobile data.
If you want the larger 13-inch screen, you are looking at RM3,699 to start, climbing to RM4,399 for the 5G option. You can get your pre-orders in from 4 March, and they will be hitting the shelves on 11 March.