It's confirmed, the Apple San Francisco event IS about the iPad's next generation - not touch TV like some people had been mooting. So what exactly can we expect from the device? Well, for starters, it's going to look a little different, with a new tapered design making it stand out from previous models.
As expected, the system's resolution has seen a jump, increasing to 2048 x 1356 from the iPad 2's 1024 x 768. That means a total of 3.1 million pixels on the device, or 264 pixels per inch - something that no other portable tablet system can come close to. It also offers 40% better colour saturation than ever before.
Those of you wondering about whether or not it has a physical home button can relax at last, because it does!
It'll feature an A5X processor, which Apple claim offers four times the performance of NVIDIA's Tegra 3 chip - although we'll have to wait for tests to see about that one.
On the new features front, it's got the iSight camera at the back which features a 5MP backside illuminated sensor, which is pretty much what you get on the iPhone 4S. The camera will feature auto-exposure and auto-focus. Unsurprisingly, it'll also feature 1080p video recording. That certainly won't surprise anyone. What is a nice touch, however, is the video stabilisation technology built into the software.
Another new feature is voice dictation, which adds a new button to the keyboard allowing you to speak into the device rather than typing.
The big announcement, although probably the least surprising of the lot is the fact that it will support 4G LTE, meaning speeds of an astonishing 73Mbps. For those not concerned with LTE, it's also going to manage 21Mbps on HSPA+ and 42Mbps on DC-HSDPA.
Confirmed LTE partners so far are Verizon, AT&T, Bell, TELUS and Rogers, with 3G compatibility around the globe. It's also capable of becoming a personal hotspot too, which is nice.
How will all of this affect the device's battery life though? After all it's a key reason that many people choose the iPad. Well, it'll manage 10 hours of battery life on WiFi/3G, or 9 hours on LTE, which is impressive.
It's a mere 9.4mm thin and weighs 1.4lbs for those of you interested in that side of things.
Here's the big one, the price... it'll start at $499 for the 16GB model, $599 for 32GB, $699 for 64GB - all WiFi. Or for the LTE version, you're looking at $629, $729 and $829 respectively.
Release date is March 16th in Canada, United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Switzerland, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia, and March 23rd everywhere else.
All stock apps have been fully optimised for the new resolution.