Apple iPad Air 13" Starlight Review

The iPad Air M4 is the creative pro's tablet on a budget. It has almost all the speed of the Pro model, but you're still stuck in iPadOS.

The 13-inch iPad Air with the M4 chip is basically Apple's way of saying 'you don't need the Pro.' This thing is a powerhouse in a surprisingly affordable package. The one thing to know? It's the most capable tablet for creative work and multitasking that doesn't have 'Pro' in its name, but it's held back by the same old iPadOS limitations.

The M4 chip is no joke. It lands in the 91st percentile for CPU performance in our database, and the 90th for GPU. That means it chews through 4K video edits and demanding 3D apps without breaking a sweat. What surprised us was the connectivity, scoring in the 94th percentile with Wi-Fi 7 and 5G. The only real letdown is the battery, which sits at a mediocre 48th percentile. It'll get you through a day, but don't expect to forget your charger.

At $1449, it's a lot of money for a tablet. But if you need a portable creative studio or a business machine that can handle anything you throw at it, this is the one to get. You're paying for the M4 and that beautiful screen, and they deliver.

The obvious competitor is the 11-inch iPad Pro with the M5 chip. The Pro gives you a better 120Hz screen and more advanced camera features, but it costs significantly more for similar core performance. For Android users, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10+ is the alternative, offering great performance and a more flexible file system, but app optimization for creative work isn't as good. The Microsoft Surface Pro is the choice if you absolutely need a full desktop OS in a tablet form factor.

If you're just watching Netflix and browsing the web, this is massive overkill. Go get the standard iPad and save a thousand dollars. If you need a true laptop replacement for running desktop software, skip the tablet debate entirely and look at a MacBook Air.

We recommend the 13-inch iPad Air M4 if your workflow lives on the iPad. For artists, designers, and mobile professionals who leverage apps like Procreate, LumaFusion, or Affinity suite, it's the best value in the Apple tablet lineup. It has nearly all the Pro's power for several hundred dollars less. Just know you're buying into the iPad ecosystem, for better and for worse.