We had heard that Apple might have a refreshed iPad 3 to share at today’s event, but it is just taking that idea and running with it, announcing a substantially improved iPad with a new A6X SoC at its heart.

Indeed, the rumored Lightning connector is present as well, but the big news is the new processor. Apple claims the A6X offers twice the performance of the A5X at number-crunching, as well as similar improvements to its graphics capabilities. Like the A5 and A5X before it, the A6X is still a dual-core chip.

Apple also mentions improvements to the tablet’s camera and cellular radio, but we’re still waiting for details on just what’s changed.

As this iPad 4 completely replaces the existing iPad 3, it will keep the previous tablet’s price points, starting at $499 for the 16GB WiFi-only model.

Source: Apple