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Because the mini 4 is the last of its kind, so they are taking advantage of their customers who long for the smaller tablet.

Squeezing it dry for every penny they can get out of it, it’s not worth the cost, but what other tablets out there for that size to offer that performance? Though the performance argument is certainly starting to fade now
 
I thought the 9.7” iPad starts at 32GB while the Mini can only be had at 128GB, hence the heftier price...
On sale right now they are the same price for the Black Friday seals but their regular prices the mini 4 was more expensive and even with the larger storage, it should be much cheaper, much older tech and a smaller display

IPP 11”is cheaper than the 12.9. So why the hell would the mini 4 at 7.9” and very outdated be anywhere prices of any current model iPads? Because they can
 
Sorry for the stupid question guys but is the iPad Mini's display laminated? I am thinking that if this is the case, it might explain the higher price compared to the regular iPad without the laminated display and pro motion.
 
The display is laminated; however, at this point I would think Apple has nailed down its production so there should be very little wasted cost to manufacture these things.

The real reason is this: Apple releases a product at a price; that product is basically going to stay at that price for its life, regardless of its tech specs. It has been this way for the Mac Mini, the Mac Pro, the iPad Mini... Heck... even Apple's current laptops are running Intel's previous generation CPUs and the prices are the same now as when they were released. It's just the way Apple does things.

Edit: I have an iPad Mini 4 and it's a nice little unit. I would not recommend paying full price for it, I bought mine from Apple's refurb store last Christmas. iOS 12 runs really well on it and it compliments my 12.9" iPad Pro.

If you're looking for a Mini and can wait, hold off until Spring 2019 because there were some rumours that Apple was looking to release an updated model. If you can't wait, I think the Mini 4 is a good purchase for light usage but (again) try to find it on sale or something because I think the MSRP is too high.
 
The display is laminated; however, at this point I would think Apple has nailed down its production so there should be very little wasted cost to manufacture these things.

The real reason is this: Apple releases a product at a price; that product is basically going to stay at that price for its life, regardless of its tech specs. It has been this way for the Mac Mini, the Mac Pro, the iPad Mini... Heck... even Apple's current laptops are running Intel's previous generation CPUs and the prices are the same now as when they were released. It's just the way Apple does things.

This is a valid point. New devices get higher prices, the old ones remain on the same price.
 
I miss my Mini 4. Have an iPad Pro 10.5 and love it. Best Buy has the Mini 4 with 128GB of memory for $250 for Black Friday. May pick one up to carry just for downloading, storing, and basic processing of shots from a camera or phone.
 
I miss my Mini 4. Have an iPad Pro 10.5 and love it. Best Buy has the Mini 4 with 128GB of memory for $250 for Black Friday. May pick one up to carry just for downloading, storing, and basic processing of shots from a camera or phone.

I would wait until March if you could. That’s when the iPad mini will be updated alongside the new regular 9.7” iPad. I love the iPad mini as well. My mini 2 is dying. I ordered the new iPad Pro for professional work...but I will definitely buy another iPad mini when they update them in March. Sale or not, I just can’t bring myself to buy a 3 year old iPad mini with a 4 year old processor that doesn’t have pencil support. I may be taking a chance, but Ming Chi Kuo said the iPad mini update is coming probably in March...and his track record is pretty damn good.
 
Laminated display does not justify that high price after being out this long. And there’s a good chance next years iPad will be laminated as well and will remain around the same price point

They just do it because they can
 
Tried to pickup a mini 4 at target.com for the Black Friday price of $250. Sold out at 6am ET Thanksgiving day already for all 3 colors. I guess people still like it. I miss the form factor. Would gladly trade my 9.7 for one
 
Apple is in this to make money. Maybe you forgot that. They will sell at what the market is willing to pay.

I don’t think snarky comments are asked for. The OP has a valid question and is trying to understand Apple’s reasoning why one product that seems inferior to their other one is more expensive.
 
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