Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
A 2mm difference in thickness is not enough to be seen as an "excessively thick" phone. In fact most people are not even going to be able to perceive a difference of 2mm in a dimension without actually holding it and focusing on it.

I beg to differ. A 2mm difference is definitely very noticeable when you are comparing it with 7.4mm. That makes it almost 30% thicker. This is anecdotal, but I know quite a few people who complained that the iPhone 11 was too thick and heavy. I tend to agree with you about prioritizing larger battery because I am a heavy user. But, the target audience with the iPhone mini is likely people who value portability much more while not using their phones as much throughout the day, compared to people who might want the Pro Max.
 
Apple clearly designed the new iPhone 12 for the next 3 years. The last design (the iPhone X) lasted this long.

Knowing how their chips will likely perform with advancements by TSMC, and with new fast charging capabilities, Apple is betting battery size will be enough.

I still think edge cases (travel, long use for video watching or recording, excessive use of 5G) will prove that battery is never enough. One will need external battery or stop and plug in an outlet to continue with a full day.

Our phones have become much more than phones. They are our morning newspaper, our evening TV, our computers during the day, our music player at the gym, etc. Battery life should always be a priority.
 
The 11 pro was the first iPhone that had pretty solid battery life. Its a shame they continue to go thin over battery life, especially with 5G. Maybe next year they will bump it back to 11 pro levels of battery instead of skimping just to make it thinner.


The iPhone 11 is rated at 10 hours streamed video playback while the 12 is 11 hours. All other battery times are equal. Unless Apple changed their testing methodology, this suggests that the A14 has introduced some significant energy savings (in addition to the efficiencies made by switching to OLED). I'll wait until battery tests come out to make final judgements, but it doesn't seem that battery life will suffer too much.
 
  • Like
Reactions: NetMage
As great as these A14 chips might be, there are undeniably limits to how much power consumption can be optimized while also adding a potentially battery hogging feature like 5G.

The whole "Apple's new chip always improves battery life" just isn't as true as we want it to be.

Take the 2nd generation SE: Battery size remained the same from the iPhone 8 and thus the battery life for it is quite bad despite the upgrade to the much faster A13 along with a few other significant spec upgrades.

I have also noticed that Apple consistently doesn't give us anymore than what it promises in the official 2 minute promo for each new iPhone model. Or said in another way, Apple only rarely improves or focuses on features and specs that aren't headlined in these short "summary" promos:

This year, neither of the two 2 minute promos for the 12/12 mini or the 12 Pros mentioned anything about extended or "same great, all-day" battery life or even mentioned how the new A14 chip would improve power consumption.

"Great battery life" was a headline for the 11 and that's why we actually got it.

To sum it up, I expect battery life for all the 12s to be in line with their size equivalent 11s at best, or somewhere in-between the XS lineup and the 11 lineup at worst.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jprmercado
2227 Mh was the rumoured capacity for the 12 Mini which has been somewhat confirmed now. I think personally this is decent considering the small size of the phone (it has more capacity compared to the SE which has a larger chassis). I wont have 5g on mine so i should get 2 days in between charges hopefully.
 
Decided to upgrade to iPhone 12 from XR, which has amazing battery life. Hope I won’t be disappointed.
 
If this is true, that’s awesome news because my 6s only has 1,715mAh. That means the mini will get better battery life than my 6s.

All things aside, yes. But the Mini has a higher resolution screen, a more advanced processor, more RAM, two cameras, 5G, and a bunch of other things that the 6S doesn't have. It remains to be seen just how power-hungry the iPhone Mini can be, but I'm confident in Apple's commitment to energy efficiency [the move to the 5 nm process being part of that].

In my case, I'm coming from a XS whose 2,659 mAh battery is now at 83% capacity. I don't know if it works this way, but 83% of 2,659 is 2,206.97, which is pretty close to the Mini's reported capacity of 2,227 mAh.

Does that mean that a fresh-out-of-the-box Mini's day-to-day battery life would be the same as my XS's? It depends.

I suspect that the Mini's new display with higher PPI and certain processes like taking photos could be more power-hungry [because the Mini's cameras engage the SoC in ways that the XS's never did]. But the Mini's SoC itself, though more advanced, might actually be more power-efficient because of the 5 nm process, among other refinements.

I guess we'll have just have to wait for the reviews, because we can only speculate at this point. 😅
 
  • Like
Reactions: MrGuder
I’m going to sit this one out and wait for the 12s.
I expect there will be wrinkles to be ironed out in this year’s release
 
All things aside, yes. But the Mini has a higher resolution screen, a more advanced processor, more RAM, two cameras, 5G, and a bunch of other things that the 6S doesn't have. It remains to be seen just how power-hungry the iPhone Mini can be, but I'm confident in Apple's commitment to energy efficiency [the move to the 5 nm process being part of that].

In my case, I'm coming from a XS whose 2,659 mAh battery is now at 83% capacity. I don't know if it works this way, but 83% of 2,659 is 2,206.97, which is pretty close to the Mini's reported capacity of 2,227 mAh.

Does that mean that a fresh-out-of-the-box Mini's day-to-day battery life would be the same as my XS's? It depends.

I suspect that the Mini's new display with higher PPI and certain processes like taking photos could be more power-hungry [because the Mini's cameras engage the SoC in ways that the XS's never did]. But the Mini's SoC itself, though more advanced, might actually be more power-efficient because of the 5 nm process, among other refinements.

I guess we'll have just have to wait for the reviews, because we can only speculate at this point. 😅
Yes I can’t wait for reviews to start showing up. I took your formula and my phones at 84% so my battery has dropped from 1715 mAh down to 1440 mAh. It barely gets me to 5pm before I need to find a charge quickly. Ha

I’m still on the fence about the mini or the 12 pro. It has everything to do with form factor and battery life. The mini is slightly smaller than my phone yet with a slightly bigger screen. Since I tend to keep my phones for longer periods than most people I’m wondering if the 12 pro might be a better choice if I can get use to a taller phone than what I have. I guess it would be better to wait till there both on display and feel them for myself huh?
 
  • Like
Reactions: jprmercado
ridiculous small battery for 2020... mini has enogh space for at least 3100 mah... what the hell they put inside that we don't need? ohhh 5g....
 
  • Like
Reactions: Craiguyver
Yes I can’t wait for reviews to start showing up. I took your formula and my phones at 84% so my battery has dropped from 1715 mAh down to 1440 mAh. It barely gets me to 5pm before I need to find a charge quickly. Ha

I’m still on the fence about the mini or the 12 pro. It has everything to do with form factor and battery life. The mini is slightly smaller than my phone yet with a slightly bigger screen. Since I tend to keep my phones for longer periods than most people I’m wondering if the 12 pro might be a better choice if I can get use to a taller phone than what I have. I guess it would be better to wait till there both on display and feel them for myself huh?

Oh, wow, that battery life is not convenient! Though I gotta say that I love the 6S! Gladly stuck with it for three years until the XS came out. I still keep mine as a backup phone, except it's got a free battery replacement thanks to Throttlegate™, haha!

I like how we're deciding between the same models! The Mini and the 12 Pro share the same processor, but the latter has a bigger battery and better camera features which it make more futureproof. Though the downside for me is that the 12 Pro is slightly bigger and heavier than my XS, which has always felt a bit unwieldy to me. But then another plus is the maximum storage: 512 GB!

*sigh* I'm with you—I can't wait to try the demo units and get a feel for both phones. I guess that's the only time I'll be able to decide.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MrGuder
ridiculous small battery for 2020... mini has enogh space for at least 3100 mah... what the hell they put inside that we don't need? ohhh 5g....
I completely share your frustrations but we all know if Apple had sat out 5G another year when all the Android phones have standard 5G capability, then the YouTubers and all the other tech influencers and social media commenters would raise the same stink we hear over lack of Pro Motion. Apple has all these Android manufacturers loudly nipping at their heels.

They got the 5G modems, did what they could to make them fit in chassis that are the least thick and heavy they could offer, keeping in mind all the complaints about how heavy their phones feel. This is a new design that has to impress with sleekness. They can sneak the thickness in next year or come up with appealing mag safe battery attachments.

They did this in a time of unprecedented challenges in travel and supply chain management and for business in general yet didn’t run past schedule that badly.

Compromises were made. We aren’t going to like all of them. But I thought it was amusing you said “for 2020”. This phone is so very 2020! Have you seen what happened with Pixel phones in 2020? They went bare bones back to basics. The most expensive Samsung flagships phones couldn’t even focus properly when they were first released. What a year it’s been. I still think these phones look cool and I think the MagSafe stuff was a nice surprise.
 
The iPhone 11 is rated at 10 hours streamed video playback while the 12 is 11 hours. All other battery times are equal. Unless Apple changed their testing methodology, this suggests that the A14 has introduced some significant energy savings (in addition to the efficiencies made by switching to OLED). I'll wait until battery tests come out to make final judgements, but it doesn't seem that battery life will suffer too much.

Except the pro isn't the same.
  • iPhone 12 Pro: 17 hours
    • This comes in 1 hour less than the iPhone 11 Pro which is rated at 18 hours.
  • Again there is 0 need to shrink the battery, and those batteries will not last 17 hours watching video, seeing as how you can kill the 11 pro is way quicker than that streaming video. I don't care what apple quotes it as, because we all know how they can make those numbers look however they want.
 
  • Disagree
Reactions: NetMage
Oh, wow, that battery life is not convenient! Though I gotta say that I love the 6S! Gladly stuck with it for three years until the XS came out. I still keep mine as a backup phone, except it's got a free battery replacement thanks to Throttlegate™, haha!

I like how we're deciding between the same models! The Mini and the 12 Pro share the same processor, but the latter has a bigger battery and better camera features which it make more futureproof. Though the downside for me is that the 12 Pro is slightly bigger and heavier than my XS, which has always felt a bit unwieldy to me. But then another plus is the maximum storage: 512 GB!

*sigh* I'm with you—I can't wait to try the demo units and get a feel for both phones. I guess that's the only time I'll be able to decide.

Ha Throttle gate...yup I got a new battery out of that for only $29.00 I can't complain lol
I've actually had about 3 batteries replaced since I bought my 6s in 2015. The throttle gate battery is what's in my phone now but it's slowly degrading. After 5 yrs I'm due for an update. There's one thing I can say for sure and that's how impressive I've been with my 6s. I've grown to love the size and touch ID but I'm out of storage.

How do you like Face ID instead of Touch ID? Did it take you awhile to get use to it? How does it work with masks that were still wearing? When it doesn't work to open with a mask how do you get it to turn on? I've never used Face ID so that's why I ask.

I cut a piece of cardboard of the exact dimensions of the 12 pro and I actually put it in my front pocket to see how it would feel. It's really only about 3/4" taller than my 6s and just a tad but wider so I feel like I can work with that but it's like you mentioned, the weight is what I'm concerned about on the 12 pro with 46 grams heavier than my 6s. That might not sound like a lot but in your pocket I think I'm gonna feel the weight.

I hate having to wait a couple more weeks in order to hold them at retail store but sounds like what I might have to do. Unless I see some u tube reviews that might sway me on the mini or the 12 pro.

Which one are you leaning toward more?
 
  • Like
Reactions: jprmercado
I've always found the 11 series too thick and heavy to carry around. I'm no power user by any means so battery has never been an issue for me.
I thought the 12 mini would be heavier than my 6s, but I’m pleasantly surprised that it’s not. It is a little thicker, but that’s the only dimension that’s increased.

EBDB6F8E-C2F4-42AE-8B11-128BACD0CFC3.jpeg


I think the mini is going to be very popular with those who have been holding out on upgrading from 6/6s/7 and even later.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jprmercado
I thought the 12 mini would be heavier than my 6s, but I’m pleasantly surprised that it’s not. It is a little thicker, but that’s the only dimension that’s increased.

View attachment 968225

I think the mini is going to be very popular with those who have been holding out on upgrading from 6/6s/7 and even later.
Every time I see those specs I lean more towards wanting the mini. I have a 6s and often times I feel like it's heavy. The 12 Pro is going to be really heavy compared to my 6s. Plus I just noticed that Verizon customers are getting the mini for $30.00 instant discount on Apples website.
 
  • Like
Reactions: PickUrPoison
But, the target audience with the iPhone mini is likely people who value portability much more while not using their phones as much throughout the day, compared to people who might want the Pro Max.

I actually am in the target audience for the iPhone Mini, as I am an owner of one of those Sony "Compact" handsets and I value portability -- or really, the ability to keep my phone in my front trousers pocket and sit down in a chair without having to think about the device or get poked in the hip by it. Meanwhile I see people carrying modern phablet-sized phones at bars juggling their phone so they don't sit on it and break it, or leave it behind on a table, etc.

As far as "not using their phone as much" -- yeah. I come on here and read these posts by people talking about having to top-off their phones in the late afternoon. I can't imagine having a phone that runs down that fast. I measure the battery life on my Sony in days, not hours. Currently recharging about once every 3-4 days. Was 4+ when I first got the handset (four years ago), but I fear the battery's life has shortened a bit, plus I have a couple apps that I think cause extra power draw now due to getting push notifications.

I have a cheap TPU case on the phone, and I notice the difference in thickness with it off. Funny enough, I actually prefer it with the case. The thickness means a more secure grip on the device edges. I've seen a few posts on here from people complaining about an increase in thickness of the iPhone between two model years, but I think that's a "vocal minority" bias as I see more from people asking for more battery.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.