The fifth generation iPad tablet is here, unveiled during an Apple event held in San Francisco. The iPad has been in need of an overhaul, given that the iPad 4 was a very light refresh over its predecessor, the iPad 3. Simply put, Apple has delivered here. As with every Apple launch, rumors of its design and specification had been spreading for months. Now that we have some hard details, lets go through them.

Introduced by Phil Schiller, the new iPad is thinner, lighter, and more powerful than ever before. Schiller said all this demanded it receive a new name, the iPad Air. The screen’s bezel has been slimmed down by 43 percent over the previous version, while the chassis is now 7.5mm thick. The tablet has taken on the iPad Mini’s look, and now has separate volume keys on the side, instead of the old rocker switch. Weighing in at just 469 grams, or 478 grams for the Wi-Fi/Cellular model, Apple says that the iPad Air is the lightest full-size tablet in the world.

The familiar 9.7-inch display with its 2048 x 1536 Retina resolution is back, but Apple has put theiPhone 5S’s A7, 64-bit processor inside the iPad Air, complete with the M7 companion processor. This adds up to twice the performance over the last iPad tablet for the CPU and the GPU. Despite this, the battery is still expected to return 10 hours of use before needing a recharge. There’s also MIMO Wi-Fi connectivity, Bluetooth 4.0, expanded LTE support, plus dual microphones, a new HD FaceTime camera, and a 5-megapixel rear camera.

The iPad Air will ship in silver and white, plus there will be a second model featuring the new Space Grey finish recently seen on the iPhone 5S. Prices start at $500 for the 16GB W-Fi, then move to $600 for the 32GB, $700 for the 64GB, and finally $800 for the 128GB. If you want one with 4G LTE connectivity, then you’ll need to add $130 to each of those prices. Interestingly, the iPad 2 remains current at $400.

The new iPad Air is all set to go on sale November 1 in a whole list of countries, including the U.S., the UK and China. Although the Apple Store is back up now the event has concluded, the iPad Air is currently listed as unavailable, so we’re left unsure if the above date is for pre-orders or release.