Apple plans to hold an “Experience” for select members of the media on March 4th, and we expect several product updates in the days leading up to the event. The iPad Air is one of the new devices that could be getting an update, so we thought we’d highlight what’s coming.
Design and display
No design changes are said for the iPad Air, so we can expect the same 11-inch and 13-inch options.
The iPad Air is thicker and heavier than the iPad Pro and uses a standard LED display instead of OLED technology. The iPad Air will eventually be upgraded to OLED, but for now, the higher-end display technology will be limited to the iPad Pro. The iPad Air also doesn’t support ProMotion, and there’s no indication that Apple plans to add it.
The iPad Air will continue to feature USB-C, the top Touch ID button, and the same front and rear cameras.
It’s possible that a new color variant will be available, but it’s not guaranteed with a minor refresh. No new accessories are rumored and it will continue to work with the Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil Pro.
The M4 chip
Apple updated the iPad Air with an M-series chip, which is a generation behind the one in the iPad Pro. Since the iPad Pro was updated with the M5 in October 2025, the iPad Air is set to get the M4 chip.
The M3 in the current iPad Air and the M4 chip are both built on a 3-nanometer process, but the M4 has an updated process that brings improvements in speed and efficiency.
There are up to 10 CPU cores instead of 8, the Neural Engine is faster and has more memory bandwidth. The GPU is also more power efficient for potential battery gains. The M4 CPU is up to 30 percent faster than the M3 CPU, while the GPU is up to 21 percent faster.
iPad Air already supports Apple Intelligence, and the next generation model will continue to do so. Apple increased the RAM on the iPad Pro models with higher storage levels, but there’s no word on whether the same change will come to the iPad Air. Current models have 8GB of RAM, which is the minimum for Apple Intelligence.
Charging
The iPad Pro got faster charging with the M5 update, and that’s something that could make its way to the iPad Air.
Network chip N1
The iPad Air is likely to adopt the N1 network chip that Apple first introduced in the iPhone 17 models.
The N1 chip is an Apple-designed Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip that offers improved connectivity and efficiency compared to the third-party chips Apple used in previous devices. The N1 supports the latest Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 technologies.
The current iPad Air offers Wi-Fi 6E support, so the next-generation model could achieve faster Wi-Fi speeds on Wi-Fi 7 compatible networks.
Apple Modem
Apple used C1X in the M5 iPad Pro and the mobile iPad Air versions will get the same modem chip. The C1X is an improved variant of the C1, Apple’s first internal modem chip.
It offers performance comparable to Qualcomm chips, although 5G connectivity is limited to less than 6 GHz without mmWave 5G support. This is not a problem on the iPad, as the current version of the iPad Air does not support mmWave.
Apple’s modem chips are much more energy efficient than Qualcomm’s modem chips and are better able to integrate with other iPad components.
Prices
There is no mention of a price increase, so the 11-inch model is expected to continue to start at $599, while the 13-inch model will start at $799.
Launch date
The iPad Air could be released as early as next week, ahead of Apple’s special March 4 experience.