Last week, above. Today, below.
The original iPad mini has quietly disappeared from Apple’s web site, and is no longer available to purchase new from the Apple Store. Introduced in October 2012, the first iPad mini established the industrial design that was subsequently used in the iPad mini 2 and iPad mini 3, as well as the larger but otherwise nearly identical iPad Air and iPad Air 2. Apple notably continued to sell the 16GB iPad mini as an entry-level model alongside two of its sequels, dropping its price to $299 in October 2013, then $249 in October 2014. In recent months, falling street prices for other models made the classic mini a tougher sell.
Apple’s discontinuation of the iPad mini leaves the remaining iPads as a completely 64-bit family, all using either A7 or A8X processors rather than the iPad mini’s aging A5. It also means that all remaining iPads have Retina displays and unified Wi-Fi + Cellular models. Refurbished iPad minis continue to be available from the Apple Store, and start at $209; new iPad minis will continue to be available at third-party resellers such as Amazon until they run out of stock.
Per 9to5Toys, Groupon currently has original iPads for $180 ‘New’ and Walmart offers them at a $50 discount over yesterday’s price. Meanwhile Best Buy’s CowBoom has used models for $115.
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Thinning the line in anticipation of the iPad Pro?
Just my opinion – Why would anyone buy a non-retina iPad?
Education.
Kids learning on the iPad in the classroom don’t need a Retina Display / Touch ID / and so on.
When I worked in for a museum we bought about 25 iPads for a project. The price difference becomes quite significant. The non-Retina models were cheaper.
True but competition is heating up too. Apple needs to price things a little more aggressively.
@irelandjnr not if the features are superior to the competition. The App Store alone is a reason to charge more.
And don’t we just know when they introduce the mini 4 they’ll kill the 3 not the 2. Up-sell, up-sell! Same reason why there’s no 32GB iPhone anymore. They want people to spend $100 extra. I wish Apple would concentrate more on quality over profit. Just like how when you call Apple support nowadays you talk to an automated phone-tree. Little things that for me tarnish the brand a little in my mind.
I doubt it because they want people using Touch ID and Apple Pay. But most likely they’ll keep both around they’ll want something cheaper than $299 and won’t want to lower the price on the mini 3 more than $100.
We shall see.
Extra? For the same $100 you get an “extra” 32GB now.
You CAN get iPhone 5s in 16 or 32GB
You CAN get iPhone 5s in 16 or 32GB
you can also get iPad Air and iPad Mini 2 in 16 or 32GB
Good. It was running some pretty old hardware that struggles with many current apps.
It’s about time! …especially given that the original iPad Mini was essentially an iPad 2 on the inside.
Totally off-topic, but will the ipod touch getting refreshed this year? I was thinking of buying for my father for Father’s Day, but am wondering if I should wait.
We don’t know. Gut instinct: no
Don’t think so. Some people say that we won’t see new iPods ever.
iPad Nano is a possibility. The iPod branding’s death warrant was signed with the Watch and iPod touch really always was just a smaller iPad, or vice versa, so it makes sense to unify that brand. It’d probably be between 6-7 inches to differentiate from the iPhone Plus though. This is all speculation of course 😏
Maybe a quiet processor upgrade to A7 (64bit). It’s starting to show lag with games and Apple apps – but I don’t know that the form will change. The iPod touch is a great device…especially for kids who don’t need phones just yet, so I doubt they’ll ever go away—especially considering the expansion of the iTunes ecosystem. It only makes sense to maintain the iPod brand as long as they’re in the music business.
They haven’t updated iPods in years and they removed iPod from the homepage of their website and replaced it with Music. In a world with Watch, iPhones and Apple Music streaming, iPods are absolete.
This puts the 5th generation iPod touch on deathwatch, does it not?
It’s about time.
Just in case someone is on a budget wanting iPad, but out of reach, the 1st gen mini (now cheaper on sale or apple refurb.), while most reviewers say its capabilities are the same as iPad 2, the reality is, not really, only 2 things the same, the A5 processor and the non-retina screen resolution, but, all the rest of the electronics are updated, BT4 gives it the ability to airdrop, and do all continuity/handoff features, iPad 2 cannot. LTE capable, the smaller physical screen size consumes less power, so it has a smaller battery with same battery life, still the lightest iPad. Yes it does well with iOS 8, and will do ios9, but won’t do new split screen features. Better cameras…except for the processor and non retina, it’s as capable as other late 2012 iOS devices. Still a decent first tablet. (From my 1st gen. iPad mini).