Apple made a quiet change to the iPad lineup last week that means that all of the tablets currently being sold by the company now have Retina displays. The change was simple — the company stopped selling the original iPad mini.
The iPad mini was first introduced in 2012, a smaller version of Apple’s incredibly popular tablet. As the mini was supplanted by first the mini 2 and then the mini 3, the price on the original 16GB mini was dropped first to $299 in October 2013, then to $249 in October of 2014.
In addition to making the iPad line all-Retina, the removal of the original mini also makes the iPad world all 64-bit, using either the A7X or A8 processor. If you’re still in the market for an original iPad mini, you can get some amazing bargains. Groupon has the original mini (16 GB) for $180, while a trip to Walmart will get you the same device for $199. Apple is selling refurbished units for just $209 until supplies are exhausted.
The original iPad mini will run iOS 9, so this is a great bargain device if you’re looking for another machine for the family.
