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iPhone 13 mini Goodbye to my 13 mini

G

ger19

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 30, 2022
229
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Went ahead and ordered a iPhone 17 today. I was at the store and checked out all the models and the 17 seemed best for me. It’s definitely bigger but it still fits in my pocket nicely. Going in, I was focused on the Air but it was actually a bit bigger and just didn’t feel good in my hand.

My 13 mini was working fine but the battery was at 80% and I decided (contrary to previous posts of mine) that I didn’t want to bother putting in a new battery. Also, T-Mobile offered $300 on trade so that was a bit of an incentive. Also, the new phones have some features I’m looking forward to, one of which is the always on screen so I can use the phone to show the time while on my charger at night. That will help to remove a bit of clutter on my nightstand (my Amazon Echo). Now I’ll have to figure out how to get Siri to handle some of the things that Alexa was handling like my smart bulbs in my bedroom.

Enjoy your mini’s. I did, but it’s time to move on. I did keep it longer than any other phone.
 
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I got the Air and have been pleased with how light and easy it has been to use. I haven't had any major issues that could not be overcome while using my Air. Since getting my Air in September when it was available, I have realized having a lighter iPhone is where I want to be.

With this said, I began looking at other alternatives that I could reasonably use today. Enter the iPhone 13 mini . . . I picked my first one up in the beginning of December and have begun to really appreciate this little gem! Yes it is going on five (edited) years old now (this September) but man it still runs the current iOS very well and mine has 92% battery health and works very well as my backup iPhone. This way if I need to use an ultra wide angle lens, even though it is only at 12 megapixels, the 13 mini will still come in handy whenever I need to use this lens.

For pretty much everything else I have my Air to use. I feel this is the best of all worlds.

EDIT: Oh . . . and you can pick up a excellent condition 256GB 13 mini around $250 - $300 so to me this is a pretty awesome deal :apple:
 
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Macdctr said:
I got the Air and have been pleased with how light and easy it has been to use. I haven't had any major issues that could not be overcome while using my Air. Since getting my Air in September when it was available, I have realized having a lighter iPhone is where I want to be.

With this said, I began looking at other alternatives that I could reasonably use today. Enter the iPhone 13 mini . . . I picked my first one up in the beginning of December and have begun to really appreciate this little gem! Yes it is six years old now but man it still runs the current iOS very well and mine has 92% battery health and works very well as my backup iPhone. This way if I need to use an ultra wide angle lens, even though it is only at 12 megapixels, the 13 mini will still come in handy whenever I need to use this lens.

For pretty much everything else I have my Air to use. I feel this is the best of all worlds.
Click to expand...
The 13 mini was released in September 2021 so a little over 4 years ago!
 
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MarkX said:
The 13 mini was released in September 2021 so a little over 4 years ago!
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Yes, I understand this. It has older tech than my Air and 17 Pro (see sig) but it still does not mean the 13 mini is not capable of being used today.

It comes down to the individual’s use case.
 
Honestly if the mini had usb-C I'd probably still have one. I'm completely Lightning free now, and I don't ever want to go back. Otherwise the mini is still my favorite form factor ever.

That said, the Air has really won me over. It's only 17% heavier than the mini, but has about 50% better performance, battery life, screen, cameras, durability, charging speed, plus that sweet 1TB storage tier (I typically max out). Fits my hand quite well compared to the other existing models. I don't care how well it's selling... it's one of the best phones ever made (just like the mini)! :D
 
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ger19 said:
Went ahead and ordered a iPhone 17 today. I was at the store and checked out all the models and the 17 seemed best for me. It’s definitely bigger but it still fits in my pocket nicely. Going in, I was focused on the Air but it was actually a bit bigger and just didn’t feel good in my hand.

My 13 mini was working fine but the battery was at 80% and I decided (contrary to previous posts of mine) that I didn’t want to bother putting in a new battery. Also, T-Mobile offered $300 on trade so that was a bit of an incentive. Also, the new phones have some features I’m looking forward to, one of which is the always on screen so I can use the phone to show the time while on my charger at night. That will help to remove a bit of clutter on my nightstand (my Amazon Echo). Now I’ll have to figure out how to get Siri to handle some of the things that Alexa was handling like my smart bulbs in my bedroom.

Enjoy your mini’s. I did, but it’s time to move on. I did keep it longer than any other phone.
Click to expand...
I did exactly the same as you, back in October. Not looking back.
 
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I went from a 12 mini to iPhone 17 but I have to say I didn't like it as much. I just could never get used the bulky size in my hand. In hindsight, I should've tried upgrading to the iPhone Air or a 16e instead. The improvements also weren't that phenomenal to my experience because even an iPhone 12 mini is good enough for my usage except the anemic battery. The camera has more detail and resolution in the iPhone 17, but the photos looked way more overprocessed.

Some other minor nitpicks - I felt that corners of the iPhone 17 are too rounded, I much prefer the rounded rectangle corner design of pre-iPhone 15 era phones. Lastly, I always use my phones caseless and the 17 wobbles way too much when put on the table.

The battery life is phenomenal and the build quality is also excellent. I dropped the phone many times during the 2 week stint, but never a single scratch or dent.

Too bad though, I ended up returning it to Apple after two weeks and now I'm back to my 12 mini again. I ordered a refurbished 13 mini last night on Swappa which I intend to upgrade to.
 
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My 13 Blue Mini has just arrived from Back Market, surprised (and very relieved!) to see that it has all Apple Original parts, even though the battery is down to 83% (which I had kind of budgeted for anyway and have an appointment at my local Apple Store tomorrow to get the battery replaced). Can't see any obvious major cosmetic damage so all seems good so far.

I'm going to give it a trial run of a week and if all goes well will be then selling my 15 Pro.The Mini just feels so good in the hand and its great to have a phone that I can truly use with one hand again. Plus the obvious benefits of being much lighter. As much as I liked the 15 Pro as the closest sized equivalent (give or take) I just love the form factor of the mini and my usage really doesn't need the bells and whistles of the Pro. I may miss pro motion and USB (although my AirPods Pro are lightning so still need the cable for those anyway)
 
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iPhone 13 mini in Green was the best color. How I wish I have purchased it back then when I had the chance. It was bigger than the iPhone 5/5c/5s/SE 2016 but still smaller than the rest of the iPhone models. If only Apple loaded it with a 3000 mAh battery, I would have bought one.
 
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i use the Air, but fortunately did not get rid of my mini 13, which I use while the Air is charging at night. Still works perfectly.
 
The quality of life improvements will be great.
Glad your mini made it this long. Sad you couldn’t keep it as a backup, but $300 towards the 17 would have swayed me, too.
 
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ger19 said:
Went ahead and ordered a iPhone 17 today. I was at the store and checked out all the models and the 17 seemed best for me. It’s definitely bigger but it still fits in my pocket nicely. Going in, I was focused on the Air but it was actually a bit bigger and just didn’t feel good in my hand.

My 13 mini was working fine but the battery was at 80% and I decided (contrary to previous posts of mine) that I didn’t want to bother putting in a new battery. Also, T-Mobile offered $300 on trade so that was a bit of an incentive. Also, the new phones have some features I’m looking forward to, one of which is the always on screen so I can use the phone to show the time while on my charger at night. That will help to remove a bit of clutter on my nightstand (my Amazon Echo). Now I’ll have to figure out how to get Siri to handle some of the things that Alexa was handling like my smart bulbs in my bedroom.

Enjoy your mini’s. I did, but it’s time to move on. I did keep it longer than any other phone.
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After you've had it a few weeks/ months/ whatever, please post your thoughts here. We're all going to have to upgrade at some point. I'm hoping it will be a long time from now, but you never know. Always good to see what mini users like/ don't like about the newer phones just to have that in the back of my mind. Obviously (due to the lack of a current small phone) we value different things in phones than the general public, so it's always nice to get perspective from others how appreciate the mini.

If/when I have to upgrade, I think I'll go with an Air, but who knows.
 
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Bigwaff said:
Love the 13 mini. When everyone is unfolding their phones, they’ll look at me and say, “That ancient little slab still works?”
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I recently thought about picking one up just for the size. How is it running in 2026 in comparison ?
 
lostPod said:
I recently thought about picking one up just for the size. How is it running in 2026 in comparison ?
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Mine run great (I have two). newer phones might be faster, but I don't notice any lag & it's perfect for my sues. I have not upgraded to iOS 26 yet, so I can't speak to that, but 18 runs great.
 
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