Apple Air 11-inch

Apple Air 11-inch

By Apple · Tablets · Phones & Computers

  • Apple M4 chip: 8-core CPU, 9-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
  • 12GB unified memory (50% more than the M3 model)
  • 11-inch Liquid Retina display, 2360 x 1640, P3 wide color, True Tone
  • Apple Intelligence built in with hardware-accelerated ray tracing
  • Wi-Fi 7 via the Apple N1 chip

Lowest price seen
$749.99
from $749.99 at Costco · Checked Oct 8, 2026

Prices are snapshots. Check the current price with the store.

Summary

Apple’s mid-range 11-inch tablet, with the M4 chip, 12GB of memory and Wi-Fi 7 in the same aluminum body as the M3 model. Check the display before you buy: it is still a 60Hz LCD, not the 120Hz OLED used on the iPad Pro.

Strengths

  • The M4 chip and 12GB of memory handle video editing, 3D work and multitasking without hesitation.
  • Benchmarks match the 2024 M4 iPad Pro in some tests and beat the entry-level iPad by a wide margin.
  • The 11-inch aluminum body is light and comfortable for travel and commuting.
  • The LCD is bright, color-accurate and free of PWM flicker in testing.
  • Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0 and Apple’s N1 chip keep it current on connectivity.
  • Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil Pro support turns it into a laptop replacement.

Weaknesses

  • The display is a 60Hz LCD, while the iPad Pro and Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 offer faster refresh panels.
  • There is no Face ID, and PCMag found the Touch ID button inconsistent in testing.
  • No water or dust resistance, so a case is advisable.
  • The June 2026 price increase of $150 weakened the value that reviews praised at launch.
  • Battery life is described as unremarkable, and the entry-level iPad outlasted it in one test.
  • Accessories are expensive: the Magic Keyboard and Pencil Pro push the total toward $1,000.

Verified specifications

ChipApple M4 with an 8-core CPU, 9-core GPU and 16-core Neural Engine, 120GB/s memory bandwidth.
Memory12GB unified (LPDDR5X) on every configuration.
Storage128GB, 256GB, 512GB or 1TB; no expansion.
Display11-inch (10.86-inch measured) Liquid Retina IPS LCD, 2360 × 1640 at 264 ppi, 500 nits, 60Hz, fully laminated with P3 and True Tone.
Rear camera12MP wide, f/1.8, 4K video at 24/25/30/60 fps.
Front camera12MP Landscape Center Stage, f/2.0, 1080p video.
ConnectivityWi-Fi 7 (802.11be), Bluetooth 6.0 and Thread via the Apple N1 chip.
Cellularoptional Apple C1X modem, sub-6GHz 5G and Gigabit LTE, eSIM only.
Battery28.93Wh lithium-polymer; up to 10 hours of web or video on Wi-Fi, up to 9 hours on cellular.
ChargingUSB-C (USB 3.1 Gen 1, up to 10Gb/s) with a 20W adapter in the box.
SecurityTouch ID in the top button; no Face ID.
Dimensions247.6 × 178.5 × 6.1 mm (9.74 × 7.02 × 0.24 in); 464 g (1.02 lb) Wi-Fi, 465 g (1.03 lb) cellular.
SoftwareiPadOS 26 with Apple Intelligence built in.
Warranty12-month limited; AppleCare+ from $5.99 a month.
Full research notes and sources

Performance

The M4 chip is the reason to pick this over the entry-level iPad. In PCMag’s testing it scored 3,713 single-core and 13,153 multi-core in Geekbench 6, with AnTuTu at 3,138,110 and 3DMark Wild Life Extreme at 6,717 frames at 40.2fps. Notebookcheck measured 3,735 single and 13,494 multi-core, and 11,301 in 3DMark Solar Bay. Both reviewers put it near the 2024 M4 iPad Pro in some tasks. Notebookcheck also observed some throttling under sustained loads.

Display

The panel is unchanged from the M3 generation: an 11-inch IPS LCD at 2360 × 1640, 500 nits and 60Hz. It is fully laminated with P3 and True Tone, and Notebookcheck measured 513 nits brightness (510.4 average) with color accuracy of dE 1.92. PCMag still called the screen reflective despite the antireflective coating. The bigger gap is refresh rate, which is the most common criticism of this tablet.

Battery life and charging

Apple rates up to 10 hours of web surfing or video on Wi-Fi and up to 9 hours on cellular. The measured results spread wider: Consumer Reports recorded 8.1 hours of web browsing and 11.8 hours of video, Tom’s Guide measured 9h 44m while the entry-level iPad lasted 11h 25m, and PCMag’s 13-inch video loop ran 7h 44m before a recharge of 1h 41m. The included 20W adapter is slow by current standards.

Accessories, warranty and upkeep

The accessories cost extra: Magic Keyboard $269, Apple Pencil Pro $129, Apple Pencil (USB-C) $79 and Smart Folio $79 (Apple). AppleCare+ starts at $5.99 a month on top of the 12-month limited warranty. The battery is not user-replaceable. Apple has not stated an update lifespan; Notebookcheck estimates at least six years based on past models, and historical patterns suggest five to seven years of major iPadOS updates.

Is it worth it?

Apple raised the 11-inch Wi-Fi price from $599 to $749 on June 25, 2026, citing higher memory and storage costs. B&H Photo lists the 128GB Starlight model at $749.00 as of the check date, and PCMag’s page showed Walmart at $747. At $599-649 the M4 Air was an easy recommendation; at $749 the margin over the entry iPad ($399) narrows, and Wirecutter advises waiting for a sale. The iPad Pro M5 is $1,199, and cellular models add $150.

Which model this is

This page covers the iPad Air 11-inch (M4, 2026), the 8th-generation iPad Air. Model numbers are A3459 (Wi-Fi), A3460 (Wi-Fi + Cellular) and A3463 (China). Internal identifiers are iPad16,8 and iPad16,9. Do not confuse it with the iPad Air (M3, 2025), the iPad Pro (M5, 2025) or the iPad 11th generation (A16, 2025). The listing used here is ASIN B0GQVPX1PJ.

Sources

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