iPad Air 11" (8th Gen, 2026) vs iPad Air 10.9" (4th Gen, 2020)
85
out of 100
VS
64
out of 100
Here we compared two flagship tablets: the 11-inch Apple iPad Air 11" (8th Gen, 2026) (with Apple M4 (iPad)) that was released on March 2, 2026, against the Apple iPad Air 10.9" (4th Gen, 2020), which is powered by Apple A14 Bionic and came out 5 years and 7 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Apple iPad Air 11" (8th Gen, 2026)
- Has 3x more RAM: 12GB versus 4GB
- 2.3x better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (3116K versus 1361K)
- Newer Bluetooth version (v6.0)
- Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5
- Compatible with Wi-Fi 7 wireless networks
- More energy-efficient CPU β Apple M4 (iPad)
- CPU with a higher amount of cores (+4)
- 77% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 3717 and 2095 points
- Ready for eSIM technology
Reasons to consider the Apple iPad Air 10.9" (4th Gen, 2020)
- Supports higher wattage charging (30W versus 20W)
Review
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Scores with a red asterisk (*) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate NanoReview Score
Value for money (Beta)
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | IPS LCD | IPS LCD |
| Size | 11 inches | 10.9 inches |
| Resolution | 1640 x 2360 pixels | 1640 x 2360 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 3:2 | 3:2 |
| PPI | 261 ppi | 264 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 60 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | No | No |
| Max rated brightness | 500 nits | 500 nits |
| HDR support | No | No |
| Screen protection | Tempered glass | Tempered glass |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 81.5% | 80.1% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 | - DCI-P3 |
| RGB color space | 99.6% | 99.3% |
| PWM | Not detected | Not detected |
| Response time | 22 ms | 36 ms |
| Contrast | 1140:1 | 1305:1 |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 247.6 mm (9.75 inches) | 247.6 mm (9.75 inches) |
| Width | 178.5 mm (7.03 inches) | 178.5 mm (7.03 inches) |
| Thickness | 6.1 mm (0.24 inches) | 6.1 mm (0.24 inches) |
| Weight | 464 g (16.37 oz) | 458 g (16.16 oz) |
| Waterproof | No | No |
| Rear material | Metal | Metal |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | Gold, Gray, Blue, Purple | Silver, Gray, Blue, Green, Rose gold |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-button | Yes, in-button |
| Area | 442 cm2 (68.5 inches2) | 442 cm2 (68.5 inches2) |
| Repairability | Average (2.85/5) | - |
| Drop resistance | Bad (E) Β· 42 drops | - |
Screen-to-body ratio
Tablet Ranking (30th and 97th place)
iPad Ranking (6th and 23rd place)
Performance
| Chipset | Apple M4 (iPad) | Apple A14 Bionic |
| Max clock | 4410 MHz | 3000 MHz |
| CPU cores | 10 (4 + 6) | 6 (2 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 6 cores at 2.85 GHz: - 4 cores at 4.41 GHz: |
- 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Icestorm - 2 cores at 3.1 GHz: Firestorm |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | TSMC |
| Lithography process | 3 nanometers | 5 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Apple Neural Engine | Apple Neural Engine |
| Graphics | 9 core Apple GPU | Apple GPU 4-core |
| GPU shading units | 1280 | 256 |
| GPU clock | 1470 MHz | 1278 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~3763.2 GFLOPS | ~654.3 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 52952 | 17192 |
| Single-core score | 3717 | 2095 |
| Multi-core score | 13294 | 5297 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 915032 | 448073 |
| GPU | 1135331 | 335707 |
| Memory | 349968 | 133324 |
| UX | 715682 | 444710 |
| Total score | 3116013 | 1361814 |
| Samples | [2 tests] | [3 tests] |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Graphics test | 23 FPS | - |
| Graphics score | 3099 | - |
3DMark Solar Bay
| Stability | - | 97% |
| Graphics test | 46 FPS | 11 FPS |
| Section 1 | 59 FPS | 14 FPS |
| Section 2 | 45 FPS | 11 FPS |
| Section 3 | 34 FPS | 9 FPS |
| Graphics score | 12127 | 2961 |
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
| Stability | - | 90% |
| Graphics test | - | 14 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 2483 |
Recent User Tests
Apple iPad Air 11" (8th Gen, 2026)
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| π 2026-08-03 (Astreeek) | AnTuTu 11 | 2940000 |
| π 2026-04-26 (BG-M4-User) | Geekbench 6 GPU | 52952 |
| π 2026-04-26 (BG-M4-User) | Geekbench 6 CPU | 3717 / 13294 |
| π 2026-04-26 (BG-M4-User) | AnTuTu 11 | 3116013 |
Apple iPad Air 10.9" (4th Gen, 2020)
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| π 2026-05-18 -> nickandrewpedrosa201178 | AnTuTu 11 | 1347415 |
| π 2026-03-16 (hi) | AnTuTu 11 | 1375134 |
| π 2026-03-03 (Dr. Maddy) | AnTuTu 11 | 1361814 |
| π 2025-02-01 (AIR 4 hype) | Geekbench 6 GPU | 17192 |
| π 2025-02-01 (AIR 4 hype) | Geekbench 6 CPU | 2095 / 5297 |
Memory
Configuration
| RAM size | 12 GB | 4 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR4X |
| Memory clock | - | 2133 MHz |
| Channels | 4 | 2 |
| Storage size | 128 GB | 64 GB |
| Storage type | NVMe | NVMe |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | iPadOS 26.3 (Can be upgraded to iPadOS 27.2) | iPadOS 14.1 (Can be upgraded to iPadOS 26.5) |
| OS size | 38 GB | - |
| OS updates | 0 years | - |
Battery
| Capacity | 7606 mAh | 7606 mAh |
| Max charge power | 20 W | 30 W |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | No | No |
| Reverse charging | No | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (50% in 60 min) | Yes (50% in 60 min) |
| Full charging time | 2:16 hr | 2:10 hr |
| Battery cycles | 1000 cycles | - |
| Web browsing | - | 07:54 hr |
| Watching video | - | 10:27 hr |
| Gaming | - | 06:15 hr |
| Standby | - | 182 hr |
General battery life
Main camera
| Matrix | 12 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4032 x 3024 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Zoom | Digital | Digital |
| Flash | No | No |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| 8K video recording | No | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 240 FPS (1080p) | 240 FPS (1080p) |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 12 MP |
1) Standard: 12 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode | - Bokeh mode |
| Image resolution | 12 MP | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.8 | f/1.8 |
| Sensor size | - | 1/3.0" (β 0.33 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.22 micron | - |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 12 megapixels | 7 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4032 x 3024 | 3472 x 2063 |
| Aperture | f/2.4 | f/2.0 |
| Focal length | - | 31 mm |
| Sensor | CMOS | - |
| Autofocus | No | No |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Video resolution | 1080p (Full HD) at 60 FPS | 1080p (Full HD) at 60 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | No | No |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) |
| Wi-Fi features | - Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
- Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 6.0 | 5 |
| Bluetooth features | LE | LE |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 3.1 | 2 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| DisplayPort | Yes | No |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS | GPS, GLONASS |
| NFC* | No | No |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | - | 1 |
| Type of SIM card | eSIM | Nano |
| eSIM support* | Yes | No |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat* | - | 18 |
| 5G support | Yes | No |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | March 2026 | September 2020 |
| Release date | March 2026 | October 2020 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $599 | $599 |
| Successor | - | - Apple iPad Air 11" (8th Gen, 2026) |
| Sensors | - Barometer - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Fingerprint |
- Barometer - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
| Keyboard weight | - | 293 g |
| Bundled charger | Yes, 20 W | Yes, 20 W |
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
After analyzing all the data, we think that the Apple iPad Air 11" (8th Gen, 2026) is definitely a better buy.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 1