iPad mini 3: Apple's own Woot-Off killer.

How little do you have to do to a gadget to call it a whole new version? Apple answered that question “almost nothing.” The only feature added between the iPad mini 2 and the iPad mini 3 is Touch ID. Oh, and you can get it in gold. It’s last year’s technology at the same price - and Apple also dropped the price of the iPad mini 2, which makes it hard to imagine who would buy the virtually identical mini 3. To call the 3 a baby step forward is an insult to babies.

“A terrible deal and you shouldn’t buy it,” fumed Gizmodo. “A major disappointment,” sighed Forbes. “Kind of lame,” Geek.com generously allowed.

But if you’ve decided to get off the model train rather than meet the new mini, same as the old mini, consider this: Apple will hold back that kickass iPad mini 4, with the sharper display and the extended battery life and the nitro-burning processor, until it clears enough inventory not to take a total bath on the 3. The pointless 3 will clog up the release pipeline until then.

Time to take one for the team. Olde-tyme Woot fans will recognize the situation as a “Woot-Off killer”, that unwanted item that sits in the way of the superior deals behind it in the queue (and just to be clear, we have nothing to do with Woot-Offs, nor is this an Ambivalanche, Mehrathon, or whatever else we might call our own deal parade, if we ever do that). Now that we’re mere fans of Woot-Offs and not running them, we see just how aggravating the Woot-Off killers can be.

So let’s all choke back our vomit and buy an iPad mini 3. It’ll be totally worth it when the 4 comes out, you guys. And of course you’ll need a case. So here’s a 2-pack of one of the best-reviewed clamshell cases on Amazon, with grippy pads and all that, for super cheap. It’ll cushion blows to your iPad mini 3 - and cushion the blow of buying a stupid iPad mini 3.

What’s that? Not buying our reasoning - or an iPad mini 3? OK, OK. Stick with your iPad mini 2 through another release cycle. But you’ll need to make extra sure you protect it as it ages. So here’s a 2-pack of one of the best-reviewed clamshell cases on Amazon, with grippy pads and all that, for super cheap. It’ll cushion blows to your iPad mini 2 - and cushion the blow of waiting for the iPad mini 4.