ipad mini 4 or ipad air 2

[manly]

I would be a little surprised if it takes that long. It seems silly to have an A9-based chip in the iPad Pro and the iPhone but not in the iPad Mini or Air.

When I had to replace my iPad Air 1 due to a cracked screen (at least we know my wife's diamond ring is real!!) I had the option to replace it with another AT&T 32GB Air 1 for $299 or pay for a new iPad2. I opted for the Air 1 because I didn't feel like paying up for a device that has an A8 chip in it. If it had been an option for the iPad Air with and A9, I would definitely have gone for that.

Apple frequently does "silly" things at the customer's expense.

Some obvious examples are:
1. Continuing to ship 16 GB of flash storage in the base iPhone config.
2. Before the late 2013 Mac Pro refresh, the Mac Pro had not been updated in several years!
3. Leaving what many consider to be a "low grade" panel on the MacBook Airs.

I already said it's possible (but unknown) that the Air 3 could be released in spring or summer. For me, that does not qualify as waiting "a bit." There's about zero chance a mini 5 will be released before next fall.

So yes, Apple will continue to be silly whenever it helps their profit margins or for other arbitrary reasons. That wouldn't surprise any of us.

As far as deciding between the Air 1 or Air 2, I'm sorry to say you made the wrong choice. The Air 2 SoC's 2 GB RAM makes it a significantly better choice than the original iPad Air. Even if forced to accept a measly 16 GB flash storage, I'd take an Air 2 over any previous iPad configuration.