Introduced in October 2012, the original iPad mini is no longer available to purchase from Apple’s brick-and-mortar stores and has been pulled from the Apple Online Store as well, as first discovered by 9to5Mac. Another indication that the Cupertino firm no longer intends to carry the device: the iPad mini product pages have vanished from its web site, too.
The change has compressed the iPad mini lineup to Retina-enable iPad mini 2 and iPad mini 3, both of which run Apple’s 64-bit A7 processor, with the iPad mini 3 offering Touch ID and a gold color option. In other words, Apple’s entire iPad lineup—both 7.9 and 9.7-inch variants—is now 64-bit, using either Apple’s A7 or A8X processors and offering and unified Wi-Fi + Cellular models.
Apple still supports the original iPad mini and the device is listed as compatible with the upcoming iOS 9 software update. While the device is no longer available to purchase new from the Apple Store, the refurbished section of the webstore continues to offer good-as-new iPad mini units, starting at $209 for the entry-level Wi-Fi-only model outfitted with sixteen gigabytes of storage.
Source: 9to5Mac