iPad Air M4 Gets More RAM and On-Device AI Push

Apple updated the iPad Air with the M4 chip, bumping unified memory to 12GB while holding the starting price at $599. The real story is the 16-core Neural Engine running 3x faster than the M1 generation - Apple is clearly staging this as the device where on-device AI workloads land for mainstream buyers. iPadOS 26 ships alongside it with a windowing system and Liquid Glass redesign that inches the tablet closer to laptop territory without actually calling it that. The connectivity stack got a quiet overhaul too, with Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and a new C1X cellular modem. Samsung, Lenovo, and others have been loading up on local AI silicon all year, but Apple's edge remains the tight coupling between chip, OS, and developer tooling.