iPad A16 vs iPad Air 11" M4

iPad A16 is $350.00 cheaper today, and has been the cheaper of the two on all 50 days we have held a price for both. They differ on chip, Apple Intelligence and Apple Pencil and 1 more point, as Apple’s own comparison lists them on apple.com. Every figure below was read from the retailer by us. A dash means we have no current figure for that one.

Apple iPad 11-inch: A16 chip, 11-inch Model, Liquid Retina Display, 128GB, Wi-Fi 6, 12MP Front/12MP Back Camera, Touch ID, All-Day Battery Life — Blue

Apple iPad Air 11-inch (M4): Liquid Retina Display, 128GB, 12MP Front/Back Camera, Wi-Fi 7 with Apple N1, Touch ID, All-Day Battery Life — Purple

Price today: Apple iPad 11-inch: A16 chip, 11-inch Model, Liquid Retina Display, 128GB, Wi-Fi 6, 12MP Front/12MP Back Camera, Touch ID, All-Day Battery Life — Blue: $399.00 (the better of the two)Go to Amazon; Apple iPad Air 11-inch (M4): Liquid Retina Display, 128GB, 12MP Front/Back Camera, Wi-Fi 7 with Apple N1, Touch ID, All-Day Battery Life — Purple: $749.00Go to Amazon
Record behind itDays with a recorded price in the last 90. We hold a verdict until 7 of them, or until one price has held for 10 days.: Apple iPad 11-inch: A16 chip, 11-inch Model, Liquid Retina Display, 128GB, Wi-Fi 6, 12MP Front/12MP Back Camera, Touch ID, All-Day Battery Life — Blue: 50 days on record; Apple iPad Air 11-inch (M4): Liquid Retina Display, 128GB, 12MP Front/Back Camera, Wi-Fi 7 with Apple N1, Touch ID, All-Day Battery Life — Purple: 50 days on record
Lowest we recordedAnd the last day it was that price. A floor touched last week is a different argument from one touched in March.: Apple iPad 11-inch: A16 chip, 11-inch Model, Liquid Retina Display, 128GB, Wi-Fi 6, 12MP Front/12MP Back Camera, Touch ID, All-Day Battery Life — Blue: $399.00 · Oct 23; Apple iPad Air 11-inch (M4): Liquid Retina Display, 128GB, 12MP Front/Back Camera, Wi-Fi 7 with Apple N1, Touch ID, All-Day Battery Life — Purple: $649.00 · Oct 30
Highest we recorded: Apple iPad 11-inch: A16 chip, 11-inch Model, Liquid Retina Display, 128GB, Wi-Fi 6, 12MP Front/12MP Back Camera, Touch ID, All-Day Battery Life — Blue: $429.00; Apple iPad Air 11-inch (M4): Liquid Retina Display, 128GB, 12MP Front/Back Camera, Wi-Fi 7 with Apple N1, Touch ID, All-Day Battery Life — Purple: $749.00
Sold by: Apple iPad 11-inch: A16 chip, 11-inch Model, Liquid Retina Display, 128GB, Wi-Fi 6, 12MP Front/12MP Back Camera, Touch ID, All-Day Battery Life — Blue: Amazon.com; Apple iPad Air 11-inch (M4): Liquid Retina Display, 128GB, 12MP Front/Back Camera, Wi-Fi 7 with Apple N1, Touch ID, All-Day Battery Life — Purple: Amazon.com

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How they differ

Specs as Apple’s own comparison lists them on apple.com, the differences first.

Chip: iPad A16: A16; iPad Air 11" M4: M4
Apple Intelligence: iPad A16: No; iPad Air 11" M4: Yes
Apple Pencil: iPad A16: Pencil (USB‑C) or 1st generation; iPad Air 11" M4: Pencil Pro or Pencil (USB‑C)
Keyboard: iPad A16: Magic Keyboard Folio; iPad Air 11" M4: Magic Keyboard for iPad Air
Display: iPad A16: 11″ Liquid Retina; iPad Air 11" M4: 11″ Liquid Retina
Unlock: iPad A16: Touch ID; iPad Air 11" M4: Touch ID

iPad A16iPad Air 11" M4

Both lines are the best price we recorded on each day, on one money axis. Our record for each starts when we started watching it, so a shorter line is a shorter record and not a cheaper history.

How the gap has moved

Across the 50 days we have held a price for both, the gap between them was widest at $350.00 on Nov 1 and narrowest at $220.00 on Sep 22. iPad A16 has been the cheaper of the two on every one of those days. Today it is $350.00.

Measured from our own readings, carried forward day by day — a price stands until we record a different one. It starts on the first day we held a price for both, which is later than the day we began tracking one of them.

What they are

5 attributes the retailers describe differently, first. These are their words, not ours — we record prices, we do not test products.

Color: Blue; Purple
Weight: 1.05 pounds; 1.02 pounds
Dimensions: 9.79 × 7.07 × 0.28 inches; 9.75 × 7.03 × 0.24 inches
Model: MD4A4LL/A; MH344LL/A
Released: March 2025; March 2026
Size: 128GB; 128GB
Warranty: Apple One (1) Year Limited Warranty; Apple One (1) Year Limited Warranty

2 products compared on the record we keep. Nothing here is ranked by what pays us, and neither of these placements was bought. Other model-against-model comparisons.