iPad Air (M4, 2026) review: I benchmarked Apple's tablet with the Pro model, and it's very close

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I've used many iPads over the years, and one thing has become clear: the iPad Air is my personal ideal tablet. Testing the new M4 model only confirmed this fact. You can now pre-order the iPad Air starting at $599, with general availability on 3/11.

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The fact is, the iPad Air isn't the most powerful tablet on the market. But that means I don't ever worry about overpaying for excessive processing power, like I would with the iPad Pro. Yet the Air is still reliable enough that I can multitask with demanding apps without risking one of them crashing, unlike the base model iPad. It's the perfect middle-ground tablet.

The M4 processing power

As a writer who also does ...