Apple has a practice in the last decade or so, of bumping its older products into a lower price-point alongside the newer hardware. This is a win for everyone as near as I can tell - The lower priced devices bring more people in. Apple gets to keep using existing tooling for manufacturer. Owners of these products from their initial release can reasonably expect longer support.

Also, tangentially and not at all seriously: If you want to see messy, confusing product lines from Apple allow me to introduce you to a little thing called "Performa"