Apple iPad Air M4 drops to $520

Amazon cut the price of Apple’s 11-inch iPad Air with the M4 chip to $519.99 on May 19, bringing the base 128GB model below Apple’s $599 starting price. Macworld reported the markdown on Monday and said it was the lowest price it had seen for the model since launch. IGN published a separate deal post on Tuesday describing the same Amazon listing as a new all-time low ahead of Memorial Day. Apple introduced the new iPad Air in March at the same starting price as the prior generation, saying the tablet would ship with the M4 chip, more memory and upgraded connectivity. Apple said at launch that the M4 version starts at $599 for the 11-inch model and $799 for the 13-inch model. That gave the Amazon price cut a clear benchmark: about $80 below Apple’s own entry price less than three months after release. (macworld.com) ### Which iPad Air model is actually at $520? The $519.99 offer applies to the 11-inch iPad Air with 128GB of storage. Macworld said the model fell from $599 to $520, a savings of $79, while IGN listed the discount as $80 off MSRP because the Amazon price ends in 99 cents. Both outlets identified it as the newest 2026 iPad Air with the M4 chip. (apple.com) Amazon had already touched that same price earlier in May. 9to5Toys reported on May 4 that the entry-level 11-inch M4 iPad Air hit $519.99, which it called a new Amazon all-time low at the time, and MacRumors also reported M4 iPad Air pricing starting from $519.99 that day. The May 19 move therefore looks like a return to that low rather than a fresh cut below it. (macworld.com) ### Are other M4 iPad Air configurations discounted too? 9to5Toys said this week that higher-end M4 iPad Air configurations were also on sale. Its deal coverage said a 256GB Wi‑Fi + Cellular model was back to an all-time low at $150 off, and a separate 9to5Toys item said the 13-inch 256GB model was back near an Amazon all-time low at roughly $110 off. (9to5toys.com) MacRumors reported similar broader discounting over the weekend, saying Amazon had brought back up to $109 off new M4 iPad Air models across both 11-inch and 13-inch versions. That suggests the base-model cut is part of a wider promotional push rather than a one-off listing change on a single SKU. (newsbreak.com) ### How new is this iPad Air? Apple announced the M4 iPad Air in March 2026 and said the update added the newer chip, more memory and support for newer wireless standards. IGN said the tablet was released earlier this year, and Macworld said on May 18 that it had been on shelves for about two months. (macrumors.com) Macworld’s product guide for the device also lists March 2026 as the release window and says the 11-inch model starts at $599. That timing matters because it means discounting began soon after launch, well before the back-to-school sales period that often brings broader tablet promotions. (apple.com) ### Where are these prices being tracked? Amazon is the retailer named across the deal reports. Macworld linked to Amazon for the $520 base-model offer, IGN cited Amazon in its Memorial Day deal coverage, and 9to5Toys’ May 19 deal roundup said Amazon and Best Buy had launched Memorial Day promotions while highlighting the M4 iPad Air discounts. (macworld.com) May 26 is Memorial Day in the United States this year, and the current discounts were being framed by retailers and deal sites as part of that sales window. As of May 19, the 11-inch 128GB model was the most widely cited entry point at $519.99, with larger-storage and cellular variants also appearing in deal trackers from 9to5Toys and MacRumors. (ign.com) (macworld.com)