If you are shopping for an iPad Air M4 this month, the number Apple shows you first is the wrong one to anchor on. The 11-inch starts at £749 for 128GB, and almost every big UK retailer has quietly matched it to within a few pounds. The 256GB model is a different story. At ao.com and Boots it is £805, which is just £56 more than the 128GB one costs at the big retailers.
That is the gap I could not find on the first page of Google. Search for the iPad Air M4 and you get Apple's own store, a reseller listing, a review and a US article quoting dollars. So here is what the M4 Air actually costs in Britain on 4 November, where it is cheaper, whether the old M3 on clearance is a smarter buy, and which one I would pick.
What the iPad Air M4 costs in the UK right now
Apple launched the M4 iPad Air in March at £599 for the 11-inch and £799 for the 13-inch, the same starting prices as the M3 model before it. Then the 25 June price rise landed, and both sizes went up £150. By my maths that is 25.0 per cent on the 11-inch and 18.8 per cent on the 13-inch, for no change in hardware. I went through the whole range in my iPad price UK breakdown at the time.
This is the Wi-Fi ladder on Apple's UK store this morning:
- 11-inch: 128GB £749, 256GB £849, 512GB £1,049, 1TB £1,349
- 13-inch: 128GB £949, 256GB £1,049, 512GB £1,249, 1TB £1,549
Cellular adds £150 at every size. Two things stand out. The 13-inch is a flat £200 more than the 11-inch at every storage tier, and the first storage step, 128GB to 256GB, is £100 at Apple.
Where the iPad Air M4 is actually cheaper
With most Apple products I write about, the answer is to buy anywhere but Apple. On the 128GB iPad Air M4, that barely works. John Lewis and ao.com are both at £749, the same as Apple. PriceSpy's tracking has Amazon and Scan at £743.57, which is £5.43 under, or 0.7 per cent by my maths.
The 256GB is where retailers have actually moved. PriceSpy shows Amazon at £804.97 and ao.com and Boots at £805, all in stock. That is £44 under Apple's £849, or 5.2 per cent.
On the 13-inch 128GB, ao.com and Boots are at £910 and Amazon is at £899.97. That is £39 and £49.03 under Apple's £949. Argos is sitting at Apple's full price.
What about the £567 iPad Air M4?
You will see one listing far below the rest. PriceSpy's cheapest 11-inch 128GB is £567 from OnBuy, which would be £182 under Apple, or 24.3 per cent, and below even the March launch price. OnBuy is a marketplace, so that price belongs to a third-party seller rather than to OnBuy itself.
I would not rule it out, but I would treat it as a number to check rather than one to bank. Look at who the seller is, whether it is a UK-spec model, and what warranty comes with it before you pay. If any of those answers is vague, the £56 premium for a 256GB from ao.com or Boots is the better use of the money.
Why the 256GB iPad Air M4 is the one to buy
Here is the arithmetic that changes the decision. At Apple, doubling the storage costs £100. At ao.com or Boots, the 256GB is £805, and the 128GB is £749 almost everywhere. So the real cost of the extra 128GB, if you shop around, is £56.
And 128GB on an iPad is tighter than it sounds. iPadOS, a few offline Netflix downloads, a photo library that syncs from your iPhone and one or two big creative apps will eat it faster than you expect. iPads keep their resale value well, and a 256GB model is also the easier one to sell on in three years.
If you are certain you only stream, browse and write, the £749 one is fine. For almost anyone else, £805 for twice the space is the best value in the line-up.
iPad Air M4 vs M3: is the clearance model a bargain?
The M3 iPad Air is no longer on Apple's store, but it has not vanished. It still gets a lot of searches, and retailers are clearing what is left. The interesting one is the 13-inch. PriceSpy has tracked Currys selling the 13-inch M3 128GB Wi-Fi at £607.97, though it listed the stock as unknown when I checked, so it may not last.
If you can get it, that is £341.03 under the 13-inch M4 at Apple, or 35.9 per cent by my maths. It is also £141.03 less than the 11-inch M4. You would be getting a big-screen iPad Air for less than the small one costs new.
What do you give up? From Apple's own comparison, the M4 is:
- up to 30 per cent faster than the M3
- 12GB of memory against 8GB
- Apple's N1 wireless chip, with Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6 and Thread
- on cellular models, Apple's C1X modem
Both run Apple Intelligence, both use the same Magic Keyboard for iPad Air, and both work with the Apple Pencil Pro and the USB-C pencil. The screen is the same LCD at 60Hz on both. The memory is the only gap I would worry about over a long ownership, because 8GB is the minimum Apple Intelligence needs, and features only ever get heavier.
My read: for note-taking, reading, video and drawing, a 13-inch M3 at around £608 is the bargain of the range, and I would buy one. For anyone who edits video or plans to keep the tablet five years or more, the M4's extra memory is worth paying for. Just do not pay near-M4 money for an M3. Check like for like, too: several of the pricier M3 listings are cellular models, so compare them with the £899 cellular M4, not the £749 Wi-Fi one.
11-inch or 13-inch iPad Air?
At Apple the 13-inch is £200 more at every tier. Shop around and the gap narrows slightly: Amazon's 13-inch 128GB at £899.97 is £156.40 more than its 11-inch at £743.57.
The bigger screen matters most if the iPad is your laptop replacement, or if you draw. For a sofa tablet you carry around the house, the 11-inch is the better object. It is lighter, it fits in a smaller bag and it is easier to hold in one hand.
One comparison worth knowing: a 13-inch Air at 256GB is £1,049 at Apple, which is £150 below the 11-inch iPad Pro. And if you are tempted by the Pro, I found a refurbished iPad Pro M5 costs only £31 more than a new 256GB Air at Apple's price. With the 256GB Air now £805 at retailers, that gap is £75, which is still worth a look.
Education pricing and Black Friday
Apple's education store has the 11-inch iPad Air at £699 and the 13-inch at £899. That is £50 off each, or 6.7 and 5.3 per cent by my maths. The £80 gift card that came with it ended on 22 October, and I went through who qualifies in my Apple student discount UK guide.
Notice that Amazon's 13-inch at £899.97 is effectively the education price, with no need to prove anything. If you are not a student, that is the one to buy.
Black Friday is the other question. Apple's own event has paid out in gift cards rather than price cuts in past years, and its terms for this year are not out yet. Retailers are a better bet, but a deeper cut than the current £44 to £49 on the 256GB and 13-inch is a hope, not a certainty.
Should you wait for the next iPad Air?
Apple has moved the Air to a roughly yearly rhythm: the M2 in May 2024, the M3 in March 2025 and the M4 in March 2026. That pattern points to spring 2027 for the next one. That is my inference from the dates, not a report, and Apple has said nothing.
There is also no reason to think a new model will be cheaper. Apple blamed June's rise on memory costs, and the new iPad mini was announced last month at £100 more than the model it replaced. If you need an iPad this side of Christmas, waiting for the M5 Air buys you nothing but a longer wait.
iPad Air M4 FAQ
How much is the iPad Air M4 in the UK?
Apple charges £749 for the 11-inch 128GB Wi-Fi and £949 for the 13-inch. Amazon and Scan have the 11-inch at £743.57, and the 256GB is £805 at ao.com and Boots against £849 at Apple.
Is the iPad Air M4 worth it over the M3?
At full price, yes, mainly for the 12GB of memory and Wi-Fi 7. But if you can find a 13-inch M3 at around £608 on clearance, it is the better value for everyday use. Avoid any M3 priced within £100 of the M4.
Is a new iPad Air coming soon?
Apple has not announced one. Based on the last three launches, spring 2027 is the likely window, and nothing suggests it will launch below today's prices.
My take
The iPad Air M4 is the iPad I would recommend to most people, and nothing about it needs a wait. What needs care is how you buy it. Do not pay Apple £749 for 128GB when £805 at ao.com or Boots gets you 256GB.
If you want the big screen and mostly read, write and draw, hunt down a 13-inch M3 around £608 before the clearance stock goes. If you want the one to keep for years, get the 256GB M4 from a retailer and spend what you saved on the Pencil.
Source: Apple introduces the new iPad Air, powered by M4, Apple Newsroom
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