Apple discontinues 1st-gen iPad Mini, no longer available on Apple Online Store

Image source: Apple Online Store (Singapore)

The first-generation iPad Mini has had a good run since its introduction in late 2012 and it's time for it to retire.

Apple quietly discontinued the 7.9-inch tablet and pulled it from its Online Store worldwide yesterday, leaving the iPad Mini 2 as the base model for the product portfolio. The first-gen iPad Mini stuck out like a sore thumb in the iPad family as it was powered by an outdated A5 processor and had a non-Retina display. In addition, the cellular model only supports one of the two LTE bands used by telcos in Singapore.

Having said that, the iPad line up looks more uniformed as all remaining devices are now powered by 64-bit processors (A7 or A8), have Retina displays and unified Wi-Fi + Cellular models. Apple appears to be paving the way for a bigger iPad to be released later this year.

Source: 9to5Mac