Apple Quietly Debuts M4-Powered iPad Air
Apple introduced a new iPad Air powered by its next-generation M4 chip. The move brings high-performance ARM silicon, previously reserved for pro-level devices, into the mainstream Air lineup. The M4's enhanced graphics and AI inference capabilities could unlock new on-device machine learning applications for developers.
The M4 chip inside the new iPad Air features an 8-core CPU and a 9-core GPU, making it up to 30% faster than the previous M3-powered model and 2.3 times faster than the M1 version. This performance leap comes without a price increase, as the 11-inch model still starts at $599 and the 13-inch at $799. For developers and AI/ML enthusiasts, the M4's 16-core Neural Engine is a significant upgrade, processing on-device AI tasks up to three times faster than the M1 chip. Apple also increased the unified memory by 50% to 12GB and boosted memory bandwidth to 120GB/s, which will accelerate the performance of on-device AI models. Connectivity gets a boost with the inclusion of Apple's custom N1 wireless chip, enabling Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 support. Cellular models now feature the C1X modem, offering up to 50% faster cellular data performance with up to 30% less power consumption compared to the previous generation. The new iPad Air supports the Apple Pencil Pro, which introduces new interaction gestures like "squeeze" and "barrel roll," along with haptic feedback and Find My integration. However, some in the developer community express frustration that despite the powerful hardware, iPadOS still limits the device's potential as a true development machine, lacking features like user profiles or robust virtualization. The M4 chip is built on a second-generation 3-nanometer process and contains 28 billion transistors. The GPU supports hardware-accelerated mesh shading and ray tracing, offering more realistic graphics for gaming and creative apps. Storage options for the new iPad Air range from 128GB to 1TB. The device retains the same design and color options as its predecessor: Blue, Purple, Starlight, and Space Gray. Pre-orders began on March 4, with the official launch on March 11.
