iPhone 17 13 mini and 17 base

[uacd]

The issue is that Apple gave us the Mini and very few people supported it resulting in it becoming a commercial failure. It wasn’t such a massive deal because we still had the SE3 as a viable small phone however the 16e and 17e are the same size as regular phones and cannot be comfortably used with one hand. There are no small phone options anymore, sadly.

It kinda makes me think Apple did it on purpose. They released mini and killed it off just in few years, as well as increased display and chassis size of lineup again. And now 17e has screen that is just a tiny bit smaller than regular 17.

If mini was priced like 17e it would have been a big hit, people weren’t inclined to get one at 700$ price tag initially, so it kind of become a commercial failure. Apple should treat mini same as they treat mini iPad - older and less powerful processor, less RAM, to keep costs down, as well as to give battery more juice - newer processors these days are no more efficient, but instead more power hungry. Can’t have other explanation for vapor chamber in newer models🤷‍♂️

It is weird that their cheap large screen slates cost less than iPhone Mini, but economy of scale applies too

 

[uacd]

Reminds me of the infamous 'you are holding it wrong' era.

At least one could hold it wrong… with one hand😢

P.S: still 5 and 5s were superior imo, they weight less - 112 grams. In fact 4s is 135 and 13 mini is 137, respectively

 

[uacd]

Millions thanks for you details provide to me , thanks for your suggestion , I will try to buy it and install by myself although I never try to DIY on battery replacement ! 🙏🙏🙏

If you haven’t done that I don’t recommend it either. It can be an unpopular opinion but maybe find someone to do this repair for you, it is inexpensive and Apple service people are experienced in what they do

 

[Philip1]

I don't think you'll have any issue using your mini as your main phone for a few years more, with a battery replacement. My Dad uses my old SE 1st Gen, 2 days of battery life with a high street replacement, and all the apps that I use/used still function, even if they're very behind on updates.

The reasons I replaced it with a 13 mini was i) it looked like the 13 was the last 'small' phone Apple was going to release for the foreseeable future and ii) that the cookie boxes on websites were getting too large to click the accept/reject. Still a full day's battery life using only 4G (i.e. no wifi away from home) with battery saver mode on, e-mail to Fetch (though I don't know how much difference that makes), haptics and UI animations off, and quitting Google Maps when I'm not actively using it (a massive battery drain!). On mostly wifi at lasts 2 days. 87% health.

 

[maerz001]

yes i get it , i know apple is just focus on profit right now and they don’t listen to market and i realize the small phone will fade out finally ..

Profit and market go hand in hand. The mini sold badly with only 5% of iphone sales. So they listened to the market and killed it😉

 

[Philip1]

There may be another factor in play with the mobile phone market which is that most are sold via network carriers, who employ different marketing and incentives. Apple markets all the phones fairly equally for direct sales (apart from the flagships which are given more prominence) but the carriers have more incentive to promote (and bulk stock and discount) only what are likely to be very best selling models - the cheapest (SE/e), the 'iPhone', and a high-spec model. They can't advertise every model by every manufacturer. Also via-carrier customers are only see marginal cost increases on call plans for upgrades. The mini and Plus were always likely to be less popular even with direct sales only, but I suspect it was the carriers that did for them.

 

[Philip1]

At least one could hold it wrong… with one hand😢

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P.S: still 5 and 5s were superior imo, they weight less - 112 grams. In fact 4s is 135 and 13 mini is 137, respectively

The weather app icon has also become less optimistic - no clouds on the horizon in the good old days.

 

[firemenhon]

If you haven’t done that I don’t recommend it either. It can be an unpopular opinion but maybe find someone to do this repair for you, it is inexpensive and Apple service people are experienced in what they do

I will also consider to take it to apple to replace it

 

[Mr_Ed]

I completely agree that we should have the option of smaller phones. The issue is that Apple gave us the Mini and very few people supported it resulting in it becoming a commercial failure. It wasn’t such a massive deal because we still had the SE3 as a viable small phone however the 16e and 17e are the same size as regular phones and cannot be comfortably used with one hand. There are no small phone options anymore, sadly.

I bought a 12 Mini on launch and did complain about the battery being pretty poor. I hope they’ll release a new small phone once improved battery tech is out.

It’s a shame the mini didn’t sell, but in retrospect, I am not really surprised. I see 2 possibly contributing elements.

1. For those who used their phones to consume tons of media, including videos, a smaller battery would logically make it a non-starter, as you touched on.
2. At the time it seemed the “bigger is better” marketing of mobile phones was in full swing. A lot of people simply went for that aspect of it without much thought. I don’t mean that “lack of thought” as a slight to anyone since I was clearly guilty of it as well. I did not consider what I was actually using my phone for. Even then, I did not enjoy consuming media on the phone so a smaller battery would not have been a hindrance to me.

What I am hoping is that a more “mature” (in terms of experience with the device) user base means more careful consideration of actual needs should a manufacturer decide to try a smaller phone again. I think the size of phones has continued to grow to a point where more people are taking notice, and not in a good way. They are trending larger than they were when the mini was out. That’s why I think a small phone today would not be the “flop” the mini was at the time.

 

[Leobreaker]

I went from a 13 mini to 17. Trust me...it's worth it for the insane battery life alone. I don't feel like I have to live near an outlet!

 

[Andeddu]

It’s a shame the mini didn’t sell, but in retrospect, I am not really surprised. I see 2 possibly contributing elements.

1. For those who used their phones to consume tons of media, including videos, a smaller battery would logically make it a non-starter, as you touched on.
2. At the time it seemed the “bigger is better” marketing of mobile phones was in full swing. A lot of people simply went for that aspect of it without much thought. I don’t mean that “lack of thought” as a slight to anyone since I was clearly guilty of it as well. I did not consider what I was actually using my phone for. Even then, I did not enjoy consuming media on the phone so a smaller battery would not have been a hindrance to me.

What I am hoping is that a more “mature” (in terms of experience with the device) user base means more careful consideration of actual needs should a manufacturer decide to try a smaller phone again. I think the size of phones has continued to grow to a point where more people are taking notice, and not in a good way. They are trending larger than they were when the mini was out. That’s why I think a small phone today would not be the “flop” the mini was at the time.

It didn’t help that the 12 and 13 Mini launched during Covid when people were stuck in their houses and did not require a small and compact form factor.

I’d love to see it given a 3 year refresh cycle.