The M4 iPad Air is powerful, but I'd recommend this Apple tablet instead

Apple’s iPad Air has been a great middle-ground tablet in recent years, sitting between the top-tier workhorse iPad Pro and the base model iPad.

While it’s tempting to get this year’s model with the desktop-class Apple M4 processor, last year’s iPad Air with the M3 chipset is currently discounted on Amazon Australia at AU$797, which is 20% off the RRP of the new version.

The current model might have the more powerful processor and more RAM (12GB vs 8GB in the M3 model), but our tests have shown that you really won’t feel the difference in speed between the two iPad Airs when browsing, streaming, taking notes or drawing. The power upgrade really only makes a difference if you’re doing a lot of heavy 3D or AI work with the tablet. For the average user, the M3 silicon is plenty powerful and then some.

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Apple iPad Air M3 (11-inch, 128GB): was AU$999 now AU$797 at Amazon

In a time of component shortages and increasing cost-of-living pressures, Apple has managed to keep the RRP of the iPad Air the same in recent years, adding to the value proposition. This discount for the M3-powered model from 2025 stretches that value further, where you get powerful specs that no Android tablet in its price range will be able to match.

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In our iPad Air M3 review, the tester found the chipset helped make the tablet fly with nearly every task thrown at it, handling video editing and graphically demanding AAA games effortlessly. They even said that the tablet performed almost similarly to the M4 iPad Pro at the time, which had them question exactly which specific use cases might require someone to make that jump to the top-tier offering.

While the iPad Air is still capped at a 60Hz refresh rate, the Liquid Retina display is excellent and has punchy colours, good contrast and 500 nits peak brightness.

The M3 model is also perfect if you’re upgrading from an older iPad Air, an entry-level iPad or another tablet, providing you with enough processing power to last you a few more years before it feels sluggish.

If you want to take full advantage of the iPad Air’s features, you can use your savings to invest in the Apple Pencil Pro to take notes with, or get a keyboard folio to make it a laptop replacement.