It is odd with the iPad maxi and the iPhone both having retina displays that Apple didn't go with that out of the box for the mini. But maybe hamstringing the resolution is one of the ways Apple hopes they can nudge buyers over to the full size.
Can we agree to not say "iPad maxi" again? Thanks.
I'm not aware of anything you need my permission or inclusion as a precondition to agreeing to.
I'll bet on battery life + more powerful GPU required to power a retina display would make the price of a mini way too high to do that out of the gate.
Or sell it as an upgrade for next year's version.
Or maybe the happened to have factories that make the lower resolution screens very efficiently, which can now be used again.