How Much Faster?

iPad Air 11-inch (M4)

M4, March 2026

Scores

Single-core

No data

Multi-core

No data

GPU (Metal)

No data

Keynote claims, measured

“Featuring an 8-core CPU and a 9-core GPU, iPad Air is up to 30 percent faster than iPad Air with M3 and up to 2.3x faster than iPad Air with M1.”

Compares CPU with the M3 in the iPad Air 11-inch (M3) and the M1 in the iPad Air (5th generation).

A general performance figure, checked as a CPU claim. Apple compared with 13-inch iPad Air (M3) units; the dataset uses the 11-inch model. A general performance figure, checked as a CPU claim. Apple compared with iPad Air (5th generation) units.

iPad Air (M4) announcement, March 2026, Apple Newsroom, iPad Air (M4) announcement, March 2026

CPU

Claimed up to +30%

No data

CPU

Claimed up to 2.3×

No data

Not measurable with Geekbench

  • “M4 delivers over 4x faster 3D pro rendering with ray tracing performance compared to iPad Air with M1, offering more accurate lighting, reflections, and shadows for extremely realistic gaming experiences.”

    Ray-traced 3D rendering in named apps; Geekbench 6 Metal does not test ray tracing.

    iPad Air (M4) announcement, March 2026, Apple Newsroom, iPad Air (M4) announcement, March 2026

  • “The 16-core Neural Engine is 3x faster than that of M1 and is perfect for everyday tasks that use on-device AI, like searching for subjects and texts in photos, or leveraging powerful AI features in apps like Goodnotes and Onform: Video Analysis App.”

    Neural Engine speed; Geekbench 6 does not measure it.

    iPad Air (M4) announcement, March 2026, Apple Newsroom, iPad Air (M4) announcement, March 2026

iPad Air single-core, by generation

DeviceSingle-coreChange over the previous generation
Air, 2013No dataFirst in this line
Air 2, 2014No data
Air 3rd gen, 2019No data
Air 4th gen, 2020No data
Air M1, 2022No data
Air M2, 2024No data
Air M3, 2025No data
Air M4, 2026, this deviceNo data

Against other devices

The iPad Air 11-inch (M4) has no scores to compare.