iPhone 13 Pro 12 mini -> 13 Pro

[BigDO]

I’ve been using a 12 mini since February, was an adjustment initially (from 11 Pro), until it become normal and I loved it for everything except the battery life (which is atrocious, but didn’t get in the way so much due to the fact that I’m always close to a charger and it tops up so quickly).

Out of boredom and curiousity I switched to 13 Pro a few days ago (battery, 120Hz were tempting, as well as a bigger screen)…

What a surprise that I find I’m now using my phone much LESS than with the 12 mini. The size is just not as perfect for quickly whipping up my phone when doing something else, having a quick look, browse, scroll…

Not sure yet whether it’s a good or a bad thing, but the form factor definitely changes the way I use my phone.

Battery really is next level though, and promotion is super smooth.

 

[bubulol]

I am curious about your experience, do you think Mini form factor/size would prevail from 13 Pro advantages (promotion, bigger display, battery life...)?
Thanks

 

[BreakYurAnkles]

I made the same switch this week.

I use my phone about the same way. The size is a pro/con, easier to read information, better pictures, 120hz is really nice and noticeable all day every day. Battery life is really good.

The bad, a big change in weight. I can feel it knocking around in my pocket and against my leg. The size is pretty noticeable when I swipe to get control center and notifications "finger gymnastics".

The 12 mini was *almost* there. I really liked the 5.9" 11 pro size. I really wish they would have kept that form factor and just kept innovating off that but one can only accept what is delivered.

 

[bubulol]

Do you notice any big improvement for watching videos/movies?
I tried to watch videos/movies on my 12 Mini and surprisingly it wasnt so bad either, i was afraid it would be too small but it was actually fine enough, wondering if bigger screen of 13 Pro would help to see a drastic change about watching videos?

 

[BreakYurAnkles]

Do you notice any big improvement for watching videos/movies?
I tried to watch videos/movies on my 12 Mini and surprisingly it wasnt so bad either, i was afraid it would be too small but it was actually fine enough, wondering if bigger screen of 13 Pro would help to see a drastic change about watching videos?

I don't watch a lot of video on my phone.

I did have to use my 12 mini for content/video watching for 1 week straight (my laptop was sent for repair) and I was *OK* with it. I really wanted a bigger screen during that time TBH

I only consume video on laptops/desktops to be completely honest.
I'm a heavy multi-tasker so computers are a must for me. I really don't like the lack of Ad-blockers for mobile OS's and inside separate Apps. I prefer not to pay for an Adblocker for my devices. (Plus it keeps me off my phone/small screen. My eyes are not getting any younger)

 

[Deep_Thought]

I had a 12 mini, now on a 13 mini but I do miss the telephoto lens of my old 11Pro.

I’ve always been wary of the bigger size (compared to the 11Pro) and weight, but had been considering a 13 Pro this week, this thread has convinced me to stick to my 13 Mini - thanks!

 

[BigDO]

I made the same switch this week.

I use my phone about the same way. The size is a pro/con, easier to read information, better pictures, 120hz is really nice and noticeable all day every day. Battery life is really good.

The bad, a big change in weight. I can feel it knocking around in my pocket and against my leg. The size is pretty noticeable when I swipe to get control center and notifications "finger gymnastics".

The 12 mini was *almost* there. I really liked the 5.9" 11 pro size. I really wish they would have kept that form factor and just kept innovating off that but one can only accept what is delivered.

Agree with you 100%. The weight difference is crazy noticeable. The finger gymnastics are annoying, as is the feeling that I may drop it any second, which I never had with the mini.

This morning I put on a new screen protector on my wife’s 11 Pro and realized how different (better) it feels in hand, and I have always hated the round edges of the 6-11 generations.

Really not sure why Apple decided to upsize from 5.8 -> 6.1, especially since there’s no benefit in terms of screen content.

 

[BigDO]

Do you notice any big improvement for watching videos/movies?
I tried to watch videos/movies on my 12 Mini and surprisingly it wasnt so bad either, i was afraid it would be too small but it was actually fine enough, wondering if bigger screen of 13 Pro would help to see a drastic change about watching videos?

Yes, the improvement in watching (and reading) content is quite significant. It’s much more comfortable, and much less eye-straining too.

Another benefit is that long reading sessions (I often read books on my phone) do not obliterate the battery like they did on the 12 Mini.

 

[BreakYurAnkles]

Agree with you 100%. The weight difference is crazy noticeable. The finger gymnastics are annoying, as is the feeling that I may drop it any second, which I never had with the mini.

This morning I put on a new screen protector on my wife’s 11 Pro and realized how different (better) it feels in hand, and I have always hated the round edges of the 6-11 generations.

Really not sure why Apple decided to upsize from 5.8 -> 6.1, especially since there’s no benefit in terms of screen content.

when I went from Xr to 11 pro it was a really nice change in size.

the "smaller" 5.8" screen was great. I honestly didn't experience any negative effects day-to-day.

I agree with you about the anxiety of dropping my 13 pro while doing finger gymnastics to navigate. the 6.1" size really made the pro a 2-handed phone. never had this issue with my 11 pro.

when I got the 12 mini it felt too small. now with 13 pro it feels too big...

Goldilocks and the 3 bears......


sometimes I get the sense that Apple made the switch to 6.1" because people WERE NOT dropping their phones enough (AppleCare+ profits).

 

[cheesygrin]

I’ve struggled sometimes with the “long” phone format as well - I’m on 13 Pro now. Couple of things that help me:

With “reachability” turned on in settings/accessibility / touch you can swipe down in the bottom edge of the screen to bring the top of the screen down to reach with your finger or thumb.

I’ve also added widgets (such as weather) to the top of each Home Screen page to push the icons down to within easy reach.

 

[BreakYurAnkles]

I’ve struggled sometimes with the “long” phone format as well - I’m on 13 Pro now. Couple of things that help me:

With “reachability” turned on in settings/accessibility / touch you can swipe down in the bottom edge of the screen to bring the top of the screen down to reach with your finger or thumb.

I’ve also added widgets (such as weather) to the top of each Home Screen page to push the icons down to within easy reach.

I have also done both as well.

I've also enable "double/triple tap" feature to for notifications and control center.

even with these "hacks / work arounds" it still isn't the same because its just a physically bigger phone.

RIP 5.8" iPhone ?

 

[kidchop3]

I’m curious about this move from the 12 mini to the 13 Pro.

I run a small YouTube channel and want an upgrade in the camera department for video recording.

I’m annoyed by the 12 mini’s battery life. It can almost do a full day for my usage. I’m concerned about the battery health with it dropping to 93% in a year from charging it multiple times a day on occasion.

The only thing holding me back about the 13 Pro is the weight of the device.
I had a XR and the phone would give me hand cramps and cause wrist pain when using it one handed.

Not sure if I should take the risk and perhaps by it from Apple and return it if I’m not happy with it. Does apple accept returns if I’ve used the device in the 14 day window?

 

[BigDO]

I’m curious about this move from the 12 mini to the 13 Pro.

I run a small YouTube channel and want an upgrade in the camera department for video recording.

I’m annoyed by the 12 mini’s battery life. It can almost do a full day for my usage. I’m concerned about the battery health with it dropping to 93% in a year from charging it multiple times a day on occasion.

The only thing holding me back about the 13 Pro is the weight of the device.
I had a XR and the phone would give me hand cramps and cause wrist pain when using it one handed.

Not sure if I should take the risk and perhaps by it from Apple and return it if I’m not happy with it. Does apple accept returns if I’ve used the device in the 14 day window?

They should, in the US and other countries with decent consumer laws.

The battery in the mini is an annoyance. I’ve often charged my phone 3 times in a day. The screen is also small in certain cases (having to look at a PDF quickly without scrolling, for e.g.), some other situations too.

But that feeling of slipping it into your pocket and forgetting about it, or picking it up one handed and being able to fire off a quick message while doing something else, or quickly search/play a song while driving… that’s priceless.

 

[Philip Miller]

So I went from an XS to a 13 mini.
Really wanted a 13 pro because of the camera but holding it I said no. Too big. I too didn’t want to lose the telephoto, but the size gain was too much.
I gave up the telephoto but did gain the ultra wide angle which has been useful.
I love the 13 mini. If there was a 13 pro mini yes I would have bought it but I’m really happy with this phone.
Everyone who sees it loves it. It fits well in my jeans and when I run.
Even the XS seems unnecessarily big now.
Battery life is fine but I’m regularly near a power source anyway. I do love the MagSafe charging experience etc.
I use this thing all the time and I also watch videos on it.
I hope and suspect Apple will do another small good phone in a few years if not I’m keeping this for a good while.

 

[Philip Miller]

So I went from an XS to a 13 mini.
Really wanted a 13 pro because of the camera but holding it I said no. Too big. I too didn’t want to lose the telephoto, but the size gain was too much.
I gave up the telephoto but did gain the ultra wide angle which has been useful.
I love the 13 mini. If there was a 13 pro mini yes I would have bought it but I’m really happy with this phone.
Everyone who sees it loves it. It fits well in my jeans and when I run.
Even the XS seems unnecessarily big now.
Battery life is fine but I’m regularly near a power source anyway. I do love the MagSafe charging experience etc.
I use this thing all the time and I also watch videos on it.
I hope and suspect Apple will do another small good phone in a few years if not I’m keeping this for a good while.

Overall the camera is a good upgrade for me.

 

[DeepIn2U]

So I went from an XS to a 13 mini.
Really wanted a 13 pro because of the camera but holding it I said no. Too big. I too didn’t want to lose the telephoto, but the size gain was too much.
I gave up the telephoto but did gain the ultra wide angle which has been useful.
I love the 13 mini. If there was a 13 pro mini yes I would have bought it but I’m really happy with this phone.
Everyone who sees it loves it. It fits well in my jeans and when I run.
Even the XS seems unnecessarily big now.
Battery life is fine but I’m regularly near a power source anyway. I do love the MagSafe charging experience etc.
I use this thing all the time and I also watch videos on it.
I hope and suspect Apple will do another small good phone in a few years if not I’m keeping this for a good while.

I recommend NOT charging using MagSafe as much as possible. There is a thread for us 12 mini users with battery life in less than 1 year droping to 83% battery health (on mine personally as I used the Belkin 3-in-1 MagSafe charging stand at home. I'll be selling this and will use to upgrade to 13mini but I wonder how drone use is on this form factor.).

 

[BigDO]

I recommend NOT charging using MagSafe as much as possible. There is a thread for us 12 mini users with battery life in less than 1 year droping to 83% battery health (on mine personally as I used the Belkin 3-in-1 MagSafe charging stand at home. I'll be selling this and will use to upgrade to 13mini but I wonder how drone use is on this form factor.).

Nah, just charge it using whatever is the most convenient and seamless method for your use case. Obsessing about battery health is a waste of time, it's quicky and cheaply replaced.

 

[leifp]

A brief history of my iPhones with notes that remain relevant to me. *anecdote warning*

4: My first iPhone. It remains the reference for aesthetics and build quality.
5, 5s: became my ideal size and remained that way until… read on (or don’t. This is hardly important)
6: okay. Didn’t really like it. Missed the recessed camera, less comfortable to hold. No real pros; missed the 5s
8: absolute maximum size/weight limit of what I considered acceptable.
11: hated it (the size and weight; obviously the tech was cool)
12 mini: became my new favourite size. Over time; I had to adapt to it. Now when I pick up my mom’s OG SE it seems
tiny and unwieldy. Battery life made me sweat. Only replaced it because it fell to its death…
13 mini: for my use case I get days of battery life. Do really wish Apple crammed in the 77mm equivalent lens, though.

tl;dr - the 13 mini is a near ideal iPhone for me. Should they discontinue the mini line (or increase its size), it will be missed. By too few, perhaps…

 

[xxray]

I really wish Apple would’ve at least kept the 5.8” size for the Pro models. I upgraded from an XS Max this year, and I was sure for a while that I was going to go for the 13 Mini. However, ProMotion, battery life, the telephoto lens, brighter screen, the design/colors, the significantly better GPU on the 13 Pro, plus the fact that I was already spending hundreds of dollars on a new phone (so why not get the one with the most new/improved features?) made me, last-minute, go with the 13 Pro. I was also afraid of doing too big of a downsize to the point where I’d miss screen real estate, especially for videos and having the phone mounted in the car for GPS navigation.

The 13 Pro has been a nice downsize from the XS Max to where I don’t feel like I’m missing any screen real estate and it has made the device feel a lot less annoying than all of the fumbling around with the giant XS Max, but it still doesn’t feel small enough to me. It’s still too big for really comfortable one-handed use, and trying to use it in some positions/situations one-handed is really awkward. I don’t have small hands either.

I don’t regret my decision to go with the more feature-packed 13 Pro (120Hz and the very long battery life have been game-changers for me), but I’m still not totally satisfied with the form factor. I’m sad it’s all but guaranteed that Apple will stop releasing new mini models beginning next year. I would love to see it keep evolving to the point where I could upgrade from my 13 Pro to a mini model and not be missing a whole lot of features. Obviously, a Mini Pro is my dream phone, but even Apple keeping the smaller Pro model at 5.8” instead of 6.1” would’ve made a big difference I think. Sigh.

 

[BigDO]

Keeping it at 5.8” with flat edges would have been the ultimate. It was perfect for one handed use. I really don’t get the logic between the move to 6.1”, but it is what it is.

 

[usr0]

Made the same switch a couple of months ago! Typing with two thumbs just felt too cramped with the mini, but it certainly was a breeze to use when out and about. Before getting the mini I was using a 5.8” Xs and thought that to be the ideal size.

 

[lybentius]

I can’t count the number of times I went into the Apple store to test out the phones to figure out if the mini was big enough. Honestly I think the mini would’ve been fine but I was upgrading from an iPhone 7 and I really wanted to experience a bigger screen. Also ProMotion.

I must say though that the 13 pro is not comfortable to use at all, despite being gorgeous. I regularly use two hands and reachability (very useful). A friend of mine has an iPhone X which feels so much better in hand. It is what it is I guess!

Edit: I still absolutely love the 13 Pro though!

 

[BigDO]

I can’t count the number of times I went into the Apple store to test out the phones to figure out if the mini was big enough. Honestly I think the mini would’ve been fine but I was upgrading from an iPhone 7 and I really wanted to experience a bigger screen. Also ProMotion.

I must say though that the 13 pro is not comfortable to use at all, despite being gorgeous. I regularly use two hands and reachability (very useful). A friend of mine has an iPhone X which feels so much better in hand. It is what it is I guess!

Edit: I still absolutely love the 13 Pro though!

I’m getting used to it, and it’s feeling a lot better with the cover on. It’s a fantastic device, ProMotion especially is such a treat, one of those things that instantly makes the predecessor feel so incomplete. And let’s face it - the battery life is possible due to the size only - and it is hugely liberating not having to worry about battery at all.

 

[lybentius]

I’m getting used to it, and it’s feeling a lot better with the cover on. It’s a fantastic device, ProMotion especially is such a treat, one of those things that instantly makes the predecessor feel so incomplete. And let’s face it - the battery life is possible due to the size only - and it is hugely liberating not having to worry about battery at all.

Oh yeah the phone feels really great in the Apple silicone case. And definitely! I love not having to worry about being fully charged even when I leave the house!

 

[kp98077]

but the camera is soooo superior on the 13 pro compared to the mini! we have both in the family and no comparison