iPad Air (2026) release date expectations, price estimates and upgrades

Phone Arena

6 hours ago

In May 2025, Apple released a new iPad Air, powered by the M3 chip. The next generation of Apple's lightweight but powerful iPad is expected for next year, probably in the spring if Apple decides to follow a yearly upgrade cycle for the model. There's not much in the rumors and leaks about this 2026 iPad Air just yet. However, people are starting to talk about it already, and there's some information we may suppose based on experience and previous models. The 2026 iPad Air will likely come with the M4 chip. It should keep the same design as its predecessors: a modern, lightweight look. One of the more exciting rumors is that the iPad Air may transition to an OLED display. So far, the iPad Air iterations have come with Liquid Retina displays, while OLED was reserved for the iPad Pro.
We also expect improved battery life thanks to the M4 and its more efficient processing, and maybe we'll have some changes to the cooling to match the more powerful chip.
Apple has not given an official date for the release of the next-gen iPad Air just yet. This year, the M3-powered iPad Air was released in March, while in 2024, the M2-powered one was unveiled in May. So, we can more-or-less expect a spring release in 2026. However, no leakers have spoken on this just yet, so do keep that in mind.
* - probable dates
It's quite early to have any leaks or rumors about next year's iPad Air. So far, Apple has followed a similar pricing strategy for the model. Since a couple of years ago, the iPad Air has been available in two sizes (11-inch and 13-inch), so we expect next year this tradition to continue. The current iPad Air 11-inch starts at $599.
* - anticipated prices
An iPad is not entirely a photography device, so don't expect wonders in this department for the iPad Air (2026). Nevertheless, its predecessor is equipped with a good enough 12MP camera in the rear and a 12MP camera in the front. All in all, it's decent. So far, there are no rumors to give us information of upgrades for the iPad Air (2026) camera.
Expect again Center Stage with the front camera and good results for video calls.
iPad Air M3 and iPad Air M2. | Image Credit – PhoneArena
iPad Air designs have stayed pretty consistent in recent years and we are yet to hear about dramatic changes in the design for the iPad Air (2026). It's likely it would keep a familiar look with a modern design, and thick-ish bezels at the front. There might be again two sizes – 11-inch and 13-inch, just like the last couple of years.
There may be some fancy and fresh colors to choose from, as usually , Air models feature more colors than, let's say, the Pro-branded iPads. You may be able to pick from some variant of blue, purple, starlight (which is white-ish), and of course, the standard Space Gray (dark gray color).
As for the display, that's where things get interesting. Rumors indicate Apple may finally equip next year's iPad Air models with OLED displays. So far, the iPad Air rocked the good-old IPS LCD panel, which is not mini-LED nor OLED.
Unfortunately, though , rumors indicate the iPad Air may continue to lack a ProMotion display, which means it can be stuck at a 60 Hz refresh rate in 2026. Hopefully, that won't be the case, but so far, rumors are saying it might. So far, rumors are silent on the potential battery size of the iPad Air models in 2026. However, you can safely expect some improvements there thanks to the better energy efficiency of the M4 chip. Nevertheless, iPads usually provide good battery life. Maybe it's safe to expect around 8-10 hours on an iPad depending on what you're doing. Browsing on the internet is very easy on the battery while, for example, streaming YouTube or gaming takes out more.
Its predecessor, the iPad Air from 2025's battery performed well on browsing and streaming but struggled with gaming and its battery performance was low there: apparently, the chip was thirsty for juice. Apple recently announced iPadOS 26. Likely, if the iPad Air with M4 gets announced in the spring of next year, it will come rocking this OS. iPadOS 26 is a major upgrade for iPads which helps them get closer to MacBooks in lots of ways. iPadOS 26 redesigns multitasking on the iPad. There are now windows that you can resize and when you close them and reopen them, they would be in the same size and in the same place as before. Which is excellent if you tend to want to work with multiple apps on your iPad.
There's a new design as well, the theme of Liquid Glass spanning across Apple's entire software portfolio this year. The design features transparency across the entire OS and is generally looking super-modern and elegant. iPadOS 26 also brings a new way to deal with your files in the Files app and other small improvements sprinkled across the OS.
iPad Air (2026)'s specs: CPU: M4 (possibly)
RAM: 8GB (possibly)
Battery: around 7,600 mAh battery for the 11-inch model and around 9,700 mAh for the 13-inch model (potentially)
Charging: 30W wired (possibly)
Camera setup: 12MP main, 12MP front Currently, not a lot is known about the iPad Air specs. The iPad is expected to rock the M4 chip, which is currently powering the latest iPad Pro models. The processor is fast and furious and should allow for smooth multitasking and basically... well, basically anything you'd want it to do.
This year's iPad Air comes with 8GB of RAM. It's not known whether next year's iPad Air will get an upgrade on this front, but it's believed the 2025 iPhone 17 phones might. So, maybe, we can expect 12GB of RAM, but take this with a huge bucket of salt at this point.
You should wait for the iPad Air (2026) if you're currently not due for an upgrade immediately and you would love to use the M4 chip in a lightweight and more affordable iPad Air, rather than in a Pro iPad.
You should not wait for the iPad Air (2026) if you currently have the M3 iPad Air. The differences, at least right now, are not likely to be huge between the predecessor and the new one, and the M3 chip is fast already, at least when it comes to more moderate Air-like use.