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The iPad Air M4 packs a near-Pro-level punch thanks to its blazing M4 chip, making it a top performer for almost any task. The biggest letdown is the 60Hz display, which feels like a corner cut to protect the Pro line. If you can live with that, it's the best value in Apple's tablet range, especially if you find it at the lower end of its $699-$999 price spread.

The M4 chip with its 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU is the star of the show. It's a beast. In our benchmarks, it's one of the best on the market, chewing through complex AI tasks and graphics-heavy games without breaking a sweat. Multitasking with iPadOS's windowing system is buttery smooth, and apps open in a blink. The 8GB of RAM is solid, landing in the upper-middle of the pack, but power users might feel the pinch with a ton of layers in Procreate or huge video projects. The real lowlight is battery life, which sits at a disappointing 32nd percentile. It'll get you through a workday, but just barely, and that's a far cry from the 'all-day' claim if you're pushing the M4 hard.

Stacked against its rivals, the Air M4 is a powerhouse with a screen compromise. The Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 S11 gives you a stunning 120Hz AMOLED display that makes the Air's 60Hz LCD look a bit sad, but Samsung's chip can't touch the M4's raw speed. The Microsoft Surface Pro 11 is a more capable laptop replacement with a full desktop OS, but it's heavier and pricier. The iPad Pro M5 is the only real step up, offering that buttery 120Hz screen and more RAM, but you'll pay a hefty premium for it. For most people, the Air is the smarter buy, unless that 60Hz screen is a dealbreaker.

Value is a tricky word with Apple, but the iPad Air M4 makes a stronger case than most. It starts at $699, but we've seen it as high as $999 depending on the vendor and configuration, so shop around. For the performance you're getting, a chip that rivals the iPad Pro M5 in many tasks, it's a lot of tablet for the money. You're mainly sacrificing the Pro's 120Hz ProMotion display and a bit of RAM. If you can snag it at the lower end of that price range, it's a fantastic deal for artists, students, and anyone who wants a laptop-like experience without the laptop price.

The new iPad Air M4 is basically a Pro for people who don't want to pay Pro prices. You get that screaming fast M4 chip, a gorgeous 11-inch display, and support for the latest Apple Pencil and Magic Keyboard. It's thin, it's light, and it absolutely flies through everything from drawing to 4K video editing. But Apple made some classic Apple choices here, like sticking with a 60Hz screen in 2025, which feels a bit stingy at this price point. If you can look past that, the raw performance here is genuinely impressive. This thing landed in the 94th percentile for CPU and 96th for GPU in our database, so it's got real muscle.

Skip this if you're a display snob or a professional artist who relies on a fluid, high-refresh-rate screen. The 60Hz panel will feel like a constant, nagging downgrade. If you need guaranteed all-day battery for heavy work away from an outlet, look at the Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 S11 or just bring a charger.

The iPad Air M4 is the sweet spot in Apple's tablet lineup. It's for the student who needs a powerful note-taker, the artist who wants a portable digital canvas, or the traveler who wants a do-it-all device that's lighter than a laptop. It's not for spec-sheet warriors who will obsess over a 60Hz refresh rate, but for everyone else, the sheer speed and portability are hard to beat. This is the iPad most people should buy.