The 11-inch iPad Air with M4 just dropped to $649 on Amazon, marking the deepest discount since Apple raised the base price to $749 in June 2026. If you’ve been waiting for the right moment to buy after that price increase, this is it.
The M4 delivers 30 percent more speed than the previous M3 generation, with a 16-core Neural Engine handling Apple Intelligence tasks without strain. You get 12GB of unified system memory as standard, a figure that matches some iPad Pro configurations, which means smooth multitasking, responsive app switching, and snappy performance during creative work or complex document handling. All-day battery life holds up, and you can configure up to 1TB of storage if the 128GB base model doesn’t suit your needs.
Where iPad Air stays behind iPad Pro is the display. You’re getting a Liquid Retina panel with P3 wide color, True Tone, and ultralow reflectivity at 500 nits brightness rather than OLED and ProMotion. For most people, that trade-off is acceptable; the screen is sharp and color-accurate without being a pro-grade tool. The cameras are practical: 12MP front with Center Stage for video calls, 12MP rear for document scanning and 4K video. Touch ID lives in the power button rather than Face ID, which works well until you pair it with Magic Keyboard and the sensor becomes harder to access.
Wi-Fi 7 via Apple’s custom N1 chip is the real connectivity story here. It matters if you transfer large files regularly or work remotely and rely on fast wireless. The iPad Air stays positioned between the budget base iPad and the premium iPad Pro. At $649, this M4 model is the right buy if you need serious processing power, Apple Intelligence, and a portable 11-inch device without paying Pro prices.
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