M4 iPad Air Long-Term Review: The Pro Killer?

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The M4 iPad Air has been out for about a month now, and after using it almost every single day, my opinion of this tablet and honestly the entire iPad lineup has changed. I have been running this as my daily driver and leaving the iPad Pro on the shelf, just to see what I actually miss. In this review I am going to walk through everything I have liked, a couple of things I still think Apple needs to fix, and who this model is really for.

Intro: Who This Is For

I use the iPad primarily to watch content, to listen to music and music videos, and as a digital notebook. With the Magic Keyboard attached it becomes a low-distraction writing machine, and I lean on it to answer emails from the couch or type notes around the house. I also run specialty apps on it, like sound mixers driven straight from the iPad. If that sounds like you, and you want more than a basic content-consumption tablet, this is the model to pay attention to.

This review is for the person deciding between the iPad Air M4, the cheaper A16, and the pricier iPad Pro M5. I have spent real daily time with all three, so I will be direct about where the Air lands.

M4 Performance and the 12GB RAM Jump

Apple did not change much moving from the M3 to the M4 iPad Air. The biggest difference is the RAM. This has 12GB where the M3 iPad Air had 8GB. To me everything feels a little bit snappier than the M3 did. The M3 was not slow, but after iPadOS 26 it started to feel a bit clunkier, and the A16 feels clunkier still.

Running Stage Manager, jumping between applications, and resizing windows on iPadOS 26 all feel smooth on the M4. Resizing apps in particular feels better than it did on the M3. For the kind of multitasking iPadOS 26 pushes you toward, that extra memory earns its keep.

The Magic Keyboard Unlocks iPadOS

The Magic Keyboard is my most used iPad accessory because it unlocks iPadOS. It opens up so many more keyboard shortcuts, and the trackpad works really well. You get to type and still reach up and touch the screen, which is a nice pairing. This is the accessory that turns the Air from a tablet into something I can actually work on.

Cameras and Document Scanning

I have appreciated the camera on this for scanning documents, and it handles that job well. The landscape webcam has also been great for video calls. Having the camera along the long edge means you are looking roughly at the lens when the iPad is docked in the keyboard, which is how a webcam should have worked on a tablet all along.

Where the Air’s Keyboard Falls Short

Some people are bothered by the Air’s Magic Keyboard because it is not on the same level as the iPad Pro’s. It is cheaper, but it is missing a couple of things. There is no backlighting, and it has a faux leather texture instead of the aluminum top the Pro keyboard has.

The premium feel of the Pro’s keyboard is the thing I miss most when I use the Air. Running the Air as my daily driver, I did not feel like I was missing the display quality, but I did miss the keyboard. The Pro’s version just feels heftier and nicer to type on, even though the key travel is identical on both.

The Display: Air vs. Pro

The Air’s biggest sacrifice compared to the Pro is the display. It does not have 120Hz ProMotion, it does not have the tandem OLED panel the Pro uses, and it is not quite as bright. A lot of people talk about those gaps.

For me, there has never been a moment where this display was not bright enough to see. The quality for watching videos, interacting with content, and sending emails is more than sufficient. If you sit the two side by side the Pro wins, but on its own the Air’s screen has never let me down.

The 128GB Storage Problem

Honestly, the biggest issue I have had with this iPad is that the starting storage is still 128GB. I do not understand why Apple keeps that on a premium iPad, because the Air is a premium iPad. In 2026 that is just unacceptable.

I have had to delete apps and files to make room for updates. I do most of my work in the cloud, I store no videos on the device, and my entire photo library lives in the cloud, and it still gives me trouble. For the price Apple charges, the Air needs to start at 256GB. Paying extra to move up to 256GB is the thing that makes the buying decision harder than it should be.

iPadOS Is the Real Limitation

The other problems I have had are not really the iPad’s fault. They are iPadOS limitations. There are still things you cannot do on an iPad that force you back to a MacBook, so I keep having to decide whether to bring the iPad, the MacBook Air, or both. Some apps stay clunky too. The Gmail app on iPadOS is not as good as Gmail in a desktop browser, and Gmail in Safari has given me trouble where it does not always load or resize correctly.

There are more first-party Apple apps than ever, including Creator Studio, but they do not always work the same across platforms. Notes moves between iPad and Mac perfectly. Final Cut Pro does not. Once you export a project to your computer, you cannot reopen it on the iPad, and the two versions use different shortcuts. I would love Apple to unify these apps so the same project opens on either device. I have a Mac Studio, and I would happily pair it with an iPad if the iPad could carry more of the load, instead of still needing the MacBook Air with me.

One of my biggest complaints is that iPadOS still does not support multiple users. If you and a spouse want separate Apple IDs, iMessage accounts, and email on one iPad, it gets clunky fast. It feels like Apple just wants you to buy more iPads. Multi-user support is overdue.

11-inch vs. 13-inch

I mostly use the 11-inch Air, but I picked up the 13-inch as well. The 13-inch display is actually a little brighter, and although Apple says the color quality is the same, something about the larger panel just looks a touch better to me.

Even so, the 11-inch is still my favorite iPad size. It is more compact and portable for moving around the house, taking places, or using on the couch with the keyboard on your lap. The 13-inch feels a bit big and awkward to hold, and the size just does not feel right to me. If you are only holding the tablet, the 11-inch is far more comfortable. I like the 13-inch, but the 11-inch is still the correct size for buying an iPad.

iPad Air M4 vs. iPad Pro M5

Comparing the two, the Pro M5 costs about $400 more. For that you get the tandem OLED display with real extra depth, thinner bezels, a slimmer and lighter body, better speakers, and the aluminum Magic Keyboard. The thinness and weight do not matter much to me, but the display and speakers are a real step up.

Here is the thing though. The Air still does pretty much everything the Pro does. Both have 12GB of RAM. The Pro only jumps to 16GB if you pay up for the 1TB or 2TB SSD, and that costs a lot. The Air’s real drawbacks are the 128GB starting storage against the Pro’s 256GB, the lesser display, and the cheaper keyboard. By itself the Air M4 lands very close to the Pro.

	iPad Air M4	iPad Pro M5
Starting storage	128GB	256GB
RAM	12GB	12GB (16GB on 1TB/2TB)
Display	LCD, 60Hz	Tandem OLED, 120Hz ProMotion
Bezels	Standard	Thinner
Magic Keyboard	Faux leather, no backlight	Aluminum, backlit
Price gap	Baseline	About $400 more

Value Perspective: Air vs. A16

I have also spent a lot of time with the iPad A16. It is a great value, but it feels a lot slower than the Air for things like switching apps or anything past basic tasks like watching videos and scrolling social feeds. The Air’s screen quality is quite a bit better too, though I know plenty of A16 buyers will not notice or care.

If you just want into the iPad ecosystem for the lowest price, the A16 is still a great option. The Air is the better pick if you want to use it with the keyboard or be more of a power user. It really comes down to how hard you plan to lean on the tablet.

What Apple Should Fix

There are a few changes that would bring the Air closer to the Pro. First, give it the same keyboard as the Pro. Apple could tweak the shape slightly, maybe make the tablet a hair slimmer, and let it work with the Pro Magic Keyboard. Slimmer side bezels would be welcome too, for a cleaner look on the front.

Apple also needs to improve the display, whether that is mini-LED or the tandem OLED from the Pro, and a lot of people want 120Hz ProMotion here. When you use the 120Hz Pro, it does feel snappier and more responsive to touch. The Air also needs to start at 256GB of storage at this price. And one pipe dream: give the iPad a second USB-C port. The keyboard has a port for charging, but two ports on the tablet itself would make using accessories much easier without a dock or hub.

The Future: iPadOS 27 and macOS

To me the biggest limitation with the iPad Air M4 is iPadOS, not the hardware. I love the 11-inch form factor. It is exactly what I want in a portable computer. With the MacBook Neo launching on an A-series chip and just 8GB of RAM, that proves to me Apple could run macOS on the M4 iPad Air if it wanted to.

The open question is how much closer iPadOS 27 brings the iPad to macOS 27. If Apple keeps bridging that gap, devices like this will be excellent for years. If not, we stay stuck with the benefits and limits of iPadOS. Either way the hardware is ready.

The Verdict: Best iPad for the Money

The iPad Air M4 is awesome, and I think it is the best value iPad you can buy. It has the nice Magic Keyboard, the improved display and better speakers over the A16, and the subtle quality-of-life features that justify the $600 price, especially when you can realistically get 5 to 7 years out of an M4 chip.

For many people the A16 is still enough, and at roughly half the price that is a fair call. But if you want to use an iPad every day for a long time, the upgraded speakers, the better display, and the Magic Keyboard make the Air genuinely enjoyable. The Pro is still nicer, but for an all-around excellent iPad, this one is hard to beat. My main gripes stay the same: the 128GB starting storage, and iPadOS itself. Fix those and the Air is close to untouchable.