iPhone 12 mini How many Mini owners here?

[taneff]

All the rumors are saying that only the pros are getting 120hz, wouldn’t get your hopes up.

Yeah, I would second that. And with iOS running very smoothly when scrolling and it having such a small display I don't need it, considering battery life would be MUCH impacted.

But NO TouchID would be disappointing as I think masks will be somewhat a standard in the coming years, at least from time to time. Give us at least a Power Button Touch ID like the iPad Air 4. Maybe they wanted to this year because the 12 series have such long and big power buttons. I don't need it under the display but at least within the power button for the normal non pro 13 series.

I want a 13 Mini which has 6GB Ram (for future software as it may very well be the last Mini), TouchID somewhere and not much thicker as the 12 Mini as that would mean it would impact the comfort hold of the phone. It has amazing dimensions atm for what it offers. Thicker device for more battery would make it more uncomfortable to hold.

 

[Barbareren]

I do use my phone heavily, still getting about 9hrs moderate use (4hrs browsing total, 3hrs music with AirPod Pro’s local library/streaming, 40mins social media, 2hr productivity apps and podcasts, 40mins workouts daily - streaming music over Wi-Fi to HomePod).

That’s close to exactly the same battery life I’m getting. On a 50-60% charge I can get up to 10-12 hours of heavy, sometimes constant, use - with pretty much the same usage pattern as yours (plenty of streaming through AirPlay (mostly Apple TV), music and podcast streaming through WiFi and Bluetooth (AirPods Pro and Apple Watch), plus around 3,5 - 5 hours of SOT, and all the other more ‘usual’ tasks like calls, messaging, browsing, various apps etc. etc.

When I first got the Mini I tested out the SOT and I got well over 7 hours. But that was just testing, I’m not constantly glued to the screen, lol 😝

 

[DeepIn2U]

Yeah, I would second that. And with iOS running very smoothly when scrolling and it having such a small display I don't need it, considering battery life would be MUCH impacted.

But NO TouchID would be disappointing as I think masks will be somewhat a standard in the coming years, at least from time to time. Give us at least a Power Button Touch ID like the iPad Air 4. Maybe they wanted to this year because the 12 series have such long and big power buttons. I don't need it under the display but at least within the power button for the normal non pro 13 series.

I want a 13 Mini which has 6GB Ram (for future software as it may very well be the last Mini), TouchID somewhere and not much thicker as the 12 Mini as that would mean it would impact the comfort hold of the phone. It has amazing dimensions atm for what it offers. Thicker device for more battery would make it more uncomfortable to hold.

Curious, what benefit to the 2GB RAM increase would you really want it for or see it used for?


Also the smoother scrolling on iOS will still benefit:
faster transitions, when used
games that would hugely benefit from the higher refresh rates for action scenes,
touch navigations
^ yes MKBHD did do a recent video specifically mentioning this aspect and how on iOS their 60hz is much smoother than other phones at that refresh rate.

I'd like to see more ... and with OLED hardly any battery life impact.

added features will make the mini unbearable to the feeble weak armed mini owners, so it would be just as well if the added features omit the mini.

Huh ... sorry I lift bruh ... no issues with added weight on a smartphone for this 12 mini owner.

 

[rui no onna]

Curious, what benefit to the 2GB RAM increase would you really want it for or see it used for?

How about not losing current data/state when switching between apps?

 

[DeepIn2U]

How about not losing current data/state when switching between apps?

I've NEVER had that on an iPhone at 5S (32/64GB), 5 (16GB/32GB), 6S (64/128GB), 7/8 128GB/256GB or iPhone X ~ briefly 128GB or iphone 12 mini 256GB. Heck since iOS 6 I've never experience that.

RAM and app data/states are not so affected by RAM alone on iOS like they are on Android ~ not that I've read nor experienced. The only time an app's 'state' was affected by my experience is:
when I've disabled background app refresh,
when I'm completed out of mobile/wi-fi data for a significant amount of time,
when a non-1st party app, or an app that has VOIP is in the background for 10mins+ which is a state by iOS for ALL iPhones and apps (not mentioned).

So please elaborate a lot more in detail.

 

[rui no onna]

I've NEVER had that on an iPhone at 5S (32/64GB), 5 (16GB/32GB), 6S (64/128GB), 7/8 128GB/256GB or iPhone X ~ briefly 128GB or iphone 12 mini 256GB. Heck since iOS 6 I've never experience that.

RAM and app data/states are not so affected by RAM alone on iOS like they are on Android ~ not that I've read nor experienced. The only time an app's 'state' was affected by my experience is:
when I've disabled background app refresh,
when I'm completed out of mobile/wi-fi data for a significant amount of time,
when a non-1st party app, or an app that has VOIP is in the background for 10mins+ which is a state by iOS for ALL iPhones and apps (not mentioned).

So please elaborate a lot more in detail.

I've yet to use an iPhone or iPad that hasn't lost data/app state at least once (Safari reloads being most common).

Lost app state, Excel when my RAM is pretty awful. Just a couple weeks ago, I needed to do minor edits to a spreadsheet (copying data from a website while on the go) and I kept having to reopen the file when switching between Excel and Safari.

 

[DeepIn2U]

I've yet to use an iPhone or iPad that hasn't lost data/app state at least once (Safari reloads being most common).

Lost app state, Excel when my RAM is pretty awful. Just a couple weeks ago, I needed to do minor edits to a spreadsheet (copying data from a website while on the go) and I kept having to reopen the file when switching between Excel and Safari.

Safari reloading a page is NOT loosing data.
- snippets or ads on the page may change and often do frequently (only a few are cached in succession) - so a reload happens.
- content on the page gets edited.
- most browser will refresh content regardless of the platform.
Loosing data is a huge chunk of text/forms/etc (not an ad) suddenly goes missing.

Excel cool. Questions:
How big was the excel file?
Was the spreadsheet created on PC, did it have macros enabled, were any cells linked to other workbooks NOT cached nor stored on our iPhone or in iCloud where your phone could easily reference? (hopefully data connection didn't drop or have bandwidth issues; if related)
Is the spreadsheet sourced on cloud (cached via iCloud or iCloud API apps like Box/DropBox/Mega)?
Is the spreadsheet opened on a life spreadsheet or from email attachment?
How many other apps are running at the time of cached?
^ of those apps how many where opened or in the background for under 10mins?
Any apps running that are chat apps with VoIP capability?
Where you on a voice call? streaming audio, streaming video _ either TO your iPhone or sourced OUT from your iphone?

Details. Sorry I work in I.T. so a little information seems (in my mind) like over generalizing. That's not to say I don't believe you - just that iOS handles ram differently for the most part vs Android.

 

[taneff]

Curious, what benefit to the 2GB RAM increase would you really want it for or see it used for?

As I have written before for future software updates! There will be times when 4GB isn't enough for a SW update anymore. And 13 Mini could and probably will be the last Mini, so it has to last for many years. So 4GB for the 13 Mini would be a Nogo.

Support for devices often, not always, is dropped because of RAM or better those devices with least RAM often don't get an update after a few years. 6GB would make a big difference to the 12 Mini with 4GB. And as said I want to use a Mini for a long time.

I love the 12 Mini but those battery hours you all here get are beyond ridiculous in my situation. I rarely use WiFi, only for bigger downloads, rarely watch videos or intensive stuff, don't stream besides sometimes YT, BT only on when I need to sync m y Garmin or listen to music on the go (so not that often). I get around 4h maximum, mostly 3h of display on time. Reception at home and nearby is good LTE. Only when traveling it gets bad sometimes. Then I get less display on time. The hours you get I can't reproduce.

I noticed something weird, I only could reproduce with a very old but still good OG SE. F.e. when syncing my Garmin for 1min within the app and BT on I just lost 4% of battery to 20%. That happened before and sounds weird. So I restarted the device and battery was back to 23%. WTF???? This is very annoying. I can't restart my iPhone every time something draining the battery a bit happens.

 

[rui no onna]

Safari reloading a page is NOT loosing data.
- snippets or ads on the page may change and often do frequently (only a few are cached in succession) - so a reload happens.
- content on the page gets edited.
- most browser will refresh content regardless of the platform.
Loosing data is a huge chunk of text/forms/etc (not an ad) suddenly goes missing.

It is when you're in the middle of filling out forms and all your input is gone after swapping tabs or apps for reference.

How big was the excel file?

A few hundred KB.

Was the spreadsheet created on PC, did it have macros enabled, were any cells linked to other workbooks NOT cached nor stored on our iPhone or in iCloud where your phone could easily reference? (hopefully data connection didn't drop or have bandwidth issues; if related)

No macros. Everything was internal albeit there were several sheets with a lot of formulas.

Is the spreadsheet sourced on cloud (cached via iCloud or iCloud API apps like Box/DropBox/Mega)?

It was on Dropbox (all my files are). That said, it doesn't happen all the time. Usually just at the most inconvenient moments (I was making some live edits during a meeting to email to my boss). Issues take a while to reoccur after a hard reset so points to something memory related.

Is the spreadsheet opened on a life spreadsheet or from email attachment?

No.

How many other apps are running at the time of cached?

Less than 10. Most likely Files, Safari, Marvin ebook reader, Mail and maybe Settings. I'm not happy with iOS's native memory handling so I tend to immediately force close apps that I know I won't use again for a while (e.g. Facebook, etc).

^ of those apps how many where opened or in the background for under 10mins?

Safari obviously. I was copying stuff from there and inputting into the spreadsheet. The rest were in background for more than 10 minutes.

Any apps running that are chat apps with VoIP capability?
Where you on a voice call? streaming audio, streaming video _ either TO your iPhone or sourced OUT from your iphone?

Details. Sorry I work in I.T. so a little information seems (in my mind) like over generalizing. That's not to say I don't believe you - just that iOS handles ram differently for the most part vs Android.

Apart from FaceTime, I don't really use VoIP.

Mind, the Excel example above is not the only memory management issue I have with iOS. It's just the first super annoying thing that came to mind. Heck, if I open enough JavaScript heavy websites (whoever invented infinite scroll should burn in hell), I'd have Safari crashing on me over and over and the only fix is to hard reset.

 

[DeepIn2U]

As I have written before for future software updates! There will be times when 4GB isn't enough for a SW update anymore. And 13 Mini could and probably will be the last Mini, so it has to last for many years. So 4GB for the 13 Mini would be a Nogo.

Support for devices often, not always, is dropped because of RAM or better those devices with least RAM often don't get an update after a few years. 6GB would make a big difference to the 12 Mini with 4GB. And as said I want to use a Mini for a long time.

I love the 12 Mini but those battery hours you all here get are beyond ridiculous in my situation. I rarely use WiFi, only for bigger downloads, rarely watch videos or intensive stuff, don't stream besides sometimes YT, BT only on when I need to sync m y Garmin or listen to music on the go (so not that often). I get around 4h maximum, mostly 3h of display on time. Reception at home and nearby is good LTE. Only when traveling it gets bad sometimes. Then I get less display on time. The hours you get I can't reproduce.

I noticed something weird, I only could reproduce with a very old but still good OG SE. F.e. when syncing my Garmin for 1min within the app and BT on I just lost 4% of battery to 20%. That happened before and sounds weird. So I restarted the device and battery was back to 23%. WTF???? This is very annoying. I can't restart my iPhone every time something draining the battery a bit happens.

RAM is not affecting software updates - it's storage of ROM and what features the chipset can support. The 5S was supported for years until iOS 12. This year iOS 15 will no longer support iPhone SE 2016 model. Whatever else you stated about the 13 mini - is just reaching for right now.

Let's test your RAM theory here ... (facts from GSMarena.com)

iPhone 5
1GB RAM (rel 9.2012)
iOS 10.3.3
A6 chip

iPhone 5S
1GB (rel 9.20, 2013)
iOS 12.4.6
A7 chip

iPhone 6
1GB RAM (rel 9.2014)
iOS to 12.4.6
A8 chip

iPhone 6S
2GB RAM (rel 9.25, 2015)
iOS to 14.4 (and 14.5/x as well).
A9 chip

iPhone 7
3GB RAM (rel 9.16, 2016)
iOS 14.4 (and 14.5/x as well).
A10 Fusion chip

Notice how the iPhone 5 and 5S each 1 generation from one another (by chip and release date) BOTH have the same 1GB of RAM and yet the newer one was supported by 2 newer version of iOS than the previous model (5S iOS12.46, 5 only iOS 10.3.3). Your theory thus far only works for the iPhone 6 vs 6S .

Sorry iOS is not based on RAM, much more variables.

My fully honest with my battery life on my 12 mini and as you've mentioned I specifically downgraded from an iPhone 8 256GB I had for 2yrs to the iPhone SE OG/2016 model with 92% battery life from October until Feb 15TH 2021. I don't turn off WiFi nor Bluetooth and kept full LTE supported. Same travel routes to/from work, grocery store, LCBO (liquor store every other weekend for wine), light travel to a few trusted close friends spots who also do not go out unless to one another's residences. The last month of the SE I had to kill WiFi because it just would not last 3hrs .. killed me.

Are you sure there is no rogue app or device or something killing your phones battery? Do a full wipe, don't restore and install and setup from scratch. you can still win.

 

[DeepIn2U]

It is when you're in the middle of filling out forms and all your input is gone after swapping tabs or apps for reference.


A few hundred KB.


No macros. Everything was internal albeit there were several sheets with a lot of formulas.


It was on Dropbox (all my files are). That said, it doesn't happen all the time. Usually just at the most inconvenient moments (I was making some live edits during a meeting to email to my boss). Issues take a while to reoccur after a hard reset so points to something memory related.


No.


Less than 10. Most likely Files, Safari, Marvin ebook reader, Mail and maybe Settings. I'm not happy with iOS's native memory handling so I tend to immediately force close apps that I know I won't use again for a while (e.g. Facebook, etc).


Safari obviously. I was copying stuff from there and inputting into the spreadsheet. The rest were in background for more than 10 minutes.


Apart from FaceTime, I don't really use VoIP.

Mind, the Excel example above is not the only memory management issue I have with iOS. It's just the first super annoying thing that came to mind. Heck, if I open enough JavaScript heavy websites (whoever invented infinite scroll should burn in hell), I'd have Safari crashing on me over and over and the only fix is to hard reset.

WOW.

Safari refreshing pages is my biggest if not only grip on iOS. If i recall even when disabling background refresh it still refreshes ... in mobile data connection/WiFi locked or not (we see the reloading when unlocked). I don't recall this occuring on the 5S, 6, or 7 however I DID notice on the SE 2016 I had up until last month with iOS 14.3 ... not sure which iOS this behaviour started - nontheless it's VERY annoying. I have submitted my boggle about it to Apple support.

So ... doesn't look like you're using a lot of free RAM on your device (estimated guess), and not a lot of resource demanding applications. Dropbox, either app or using iCloud API for connection should cache the data in the workbook as well.

My guess or plan of attack would be ... which app is used to edit the spreadsheet. Microsoft has done a number on Office, Excel and unification of O365 and Microsoft 365. Then there are third party MS Excel editors. Have you had a go at say 3 of any available, just to see if there is a pattern or a difference?

Is there a different if you copy and embedd a table from the workbook into MS Word and then retry the editing steps therein? VERY interested how this plays out - and I know it's a LOT of work as you're already frustrated.

EDIT ... I'm looking up the way to reset device cache - I know a way for home button iPhone's not sure how to do it on FaceID devices:

How to Clear iPhone 11 Pro Max RAM and Boost Performance

Here are the step by step instructions on how to clear RAM on iPhone 11 Pro Max and all older versions with Face ID to boost performance.

wccftech.com

 

[Ram65]

I have one. It’s too big to use one-handed.

You better start eating your wheaties and ovaltine

 

[rui no onna]

So ... doesn't look like you're using a lot of free RAM on your device (estimated guess), and not a lot of resource demanding applications. Dropbox, either app or using iCloud API for connection should cache the data in the workbook as well.

Thing is it is using pretty much all the RAM and there's lots of Jetsam events in the logs. A quick check via Smart Memory Pro app shows 50MB free when I experience weirdness. When it's not so dire, Smart Memory can actually clear RAM but when RAM gets that full, the app just crashes when it tries to scan.

It's not worth trying to find an alternative to Excel when the issues are system level. Apart from Safari crashes (sometimes just specific webpages, sometimes the entire browser), other things that start malfunctioning for me include missing Full Page/PDF screenshot in Safari as well as Files and iCloud showing up as blank. It was just unfortunate that I ran into memory issues that affected Excel in the middle of a meeting.

Admittedly, it's pretty common for me to have 100+ Safari tabs open particularly when researching.

The linked method for clearing RAM doesn't really work for me. I've tried it (still have Home button) and more often than not, Safari would still crash upon launch. Hard reset/shut down is the only thing that works reliably in my experience.

Apple's always been stingy on RAM so I've pretty much just learned to live with it. More often than not, my iOS/iPadOS multi-tasking kinda looks like this:

 

[rui no onna]

RAM is not affecting software updates - it's storage of ROM and what features the chipset can support. The 5S was supported for years until iOS 12. This year iOS 15 will no longer support iPhone SE 2016 model. Whatever else you stated about the 13 mini - is just reaching for right now.

Let's test your RAM theory here ... (facts from GSMarena.com)

iPhone 5
1GB RAM (rel 9.2012)
iOS 10.3.3
A6 chip

iPhone 5S
1GB (rel 9.20, 2013)
iOS 12.4.6
A7 chip

iPhone 6
1GB RAM (rel 9.2014)
iOS to 12.4.6
A8 chip

iPhone 6S
2GB RAM (rel 9.25, 2015)
iOS to 14.4 (and 14.5/x as well).
A9 chip

iPhone 7
3GB RAM (rel 9.16, 2016)
iOS 14.4 (and 14.5/x as well).
A10 Fusion chip

Notice how the iPhone 5 and 5S each 1 generation from one another (by chip and release date) BOTH have the same 1GB of RAM and yet the newer one was supported by 2 newer version of iOS than the previous model (5S iOS12.46, 5 only iOS 10.3.3). Your theory thus far only works for the iPhone 6 vs 6S .

Sorry iOS is not based on RAM, much more variables.

There's also iPhone 3GS (ARM/256MB) iOS 6 vs OG iPad (A4/256MB) iOS 5 vs iPod touch 4th gen (A4/256MB) iOS 6 vs iPhone 4 (A4/512MB) iOS 7.

I expect it's really more about overall performance. The 3GS and iPt 4 have lower resolutions compared to OG iPad so Apple likely decided they were still okay to get iOS 6 even if all of them have 256MB RAM.

iPt 4 and iPhone 4 have same resolution and chipset but the iPhone 4 got iOS 7 likely thanks to the extra RAM.

Mind, the iPad mini 4 with A8/2GB RAM is supported on iOS 14 versus the iPhone 6/6+ A8/1GB which only go up to iOS 12.

 

[DeepIn2U]

Thing is it is using pretty much all the RAM and there's lots of Jetsam events in the logs. A quick check via Smart Memory Pro app shows 50MB free when I experience weirdness. When it's not so dire, Smart Memory can actually clear RAM but when RAM gets that full, the app just crashes when it tries to scan.

It's not worth trying to find an alternative to Excel when the issues are system level. Apart from Safari crashes (sometimes just specific webpages, sometimes the entire browser), other things that start malfunctioning for me include missing Full Page/PDF screenshot in Safari as well as Files and iCloud showing up as blank. It was just unfortunate that I ran into memory issues that affected Excel in the middle of a meeting.

Admittedly, it's pretty common for me to have 100+ Safari tabs open particularly when researching.

The linked method for clearing RAM doesn't really work for me. I've tried it (still have Home button) and more often than not, Safari would still crash upon launch. Hard reset/shut down is the only thing that works reliably in my experience.

Apple's always been stingy on RAM so I've pretty much just learned to live with it. More often than not, my iOS/iPadOS multi-tasking kinda looks like this:

View attachment 1745306

I still think choose the various Microsoft (over third party) Excel applications - not a full Excel replacement no still using Excel - may show other issues or changes in results. You mentioned it's a system issue - BUT still using Applications to generate the system issues - not just the core OS without any apps leading to what you're facing.

Either way you really should submit as a technical issue to Apple ...

'Make it so ... '

 

[mhdena]

Yeah, I would second that. And with iOS running very smoothly when scrolling and it having such a small display I don't need it, considering battery life would be MUCH impacted.

But NO TouchID would be disappointing as I think masks will be somewhat a standard in the coming years, at least from time to time. Give us at least a Power Button Touch ID like the iPad Air 4. Maybe they wanted to this year because the 12 series have such long and big power buttons. I don't need it under the display but at least within the power button for the normal non pro 13 series.

I want a 13 Mini which has 6GB Ram (for future software as it may very well be the last Mini), TouchID somewhere and not much thicker as the 12 Mini as that would mean it would impact the comfort hold of the phone. It has amazing dimensions atm for what it offers. Thicker device for more battery would make it more uncomfortable to hold.

Go to work at Apple and let them know you and a couple hundred of your friends are depending on you to keep the mini relevant.

 

[DaveyVigs]

Happy launch day 12 mini in blue owner here too. Hope they keep making them. Would love a mini Pro version. Not a fan of the regular, max or max pro iPhones.

 

[rui no onna]

I still think choose the various Microsoft (over third party) Excel applications - not a full Excel replacement no still using Excel - may show other issues or changes in results. You mentioned it's a system issue - BUT still using Applications to generate the system issues - not just the core OS without any apps leading to what you're facing.

Either way you really should submit as a technical issue to Apple ...

'Make it so ... '

Low memory issues occur often enough even when I'm just using native apps (often Safari and Files/iCloud).

Unless Apple introduces swap to iOS, stuff that gets ejected from RAM have nowhere to go but poof unless the application specifically implements save state. This one is by design so I really don't see the point of reporting it to Apple.

I already reported the other stuff (losing Full Page screenshot, not being able to save to Files/iCloud, and Files/iCloud showing empty).

 

[taneff]

RAM is not affecting software updates - it's storage of ROM and what features the chipset can support. The 5S was supported for years until iOS 12. This year iOS 15 will no longer support iPhone SE 2016 model. Whatever else you stated about the 13 mini - is just reaching for right now.

Let's test your RAM theory here ... (facts from GSMarena.com)

iPhone 5
1GB RAM (rel 9.2012)
iOS 10.3.3
A6 chip

iPhone 5S
1GB (rel 9.20, 2013)
iOS 12.4.6
A7 chip

iPhone 6
1GB RAM (rel 9.2014)
iOS to 12.4.6
A8 chip

iPhone 6S
2GB RAM (rel 9.25, 2015)
iOS to 14.4 (and 14.5/x as well).
A9 chip

iPhone 7
3GB RAM (rel 9.16, 2016)
iOS 14.4 (and 14.5/x as well).
A10 Fusion chip

Notice how the iPhone 5 and 5S each 1 generation from one another (by chip and release date) BOTH have the same 1GB of RAM and yet the newer one was supported by 2 newer version of iOS than the previous model (5S iOS12.46, 5 only iOS 10.3.3). Your theory thus far only works for the iPhone 6 vs 6S .

Sorry iOS is not based on RAM, much more variables.

My fully honest with my battery life on my 12 mini and as you've mentioned I specifically downgraded from an iPhone 8 256GB I had for 2yrs to the iPhone SE OG/2016 model with 92% battery life from October until Feb 15TH 2021. I don't turn off WiFi nor Bluetooth and kept full LTE supported. Same travel routes to/from work, grocery store, LCBO (liquor store every other weekend for wine), light travel to a few trusted close friends spots who also do not go out unless to one another's residences. The last month of the SE I had to kill WiFi because it just would not last 3hrs .. killed me.

Are you sure there is no rogue app or device or something killing your phones battery? Do a full wipe, don't restore and install and setup from scratch. you can still win.

Of course it is not RAM alone, a lot of things play a role, but it definitely plays a role too. 6s has two year more support with iOS14 support and 6 only iOS12 support. Of course the chip is stronger. But year less old, two more years of support, not one more year. And it uses 2GB of RAM, 6 only 1GB.

And I think I have read in multiple sources once when searching for it that RAM plays a role. Of course chip is main reason. Still ...

And why discuss this here in such a big manner? A little OT. I just said I wish it had 6GB RAM, for future SW updates and for software benefits and features too. People can tell a difference from 12 Pro to normal 12 in background activity. I am no Android guy who counts on numbers when it comes to hardware. But why should the 13 generation still only use 4GB. 6GB for all. That would also be a reason for techies to upgrade as it seems that there will be no spectacular new features.

 

[satchmo]

I think I'm going to try and hold out for an iPhone 13 mini. The key word is try.

Given we're about 6 months away, I'd hate to lose the new rumoured features of a better battery, smaller notch, and lidar.


The problem is my current iPhone 6 is really on it's death bed. I may need something to tie me over.
(I borrowed a friend's iPhone 11 Pro to try out and possibly buy, but found it too heavy and bulky)

I might have to bite the bullet and pick up an iPhone SE 2020 to use for 6 months and then trade in for the 13.
The other option is to just buy a 12 mini and call it a day.

 

[stanza.richi]

I think I'm going to try and hold out for an iPhone 13 mini. The key word is try.

Given we're about 6 months away, I'd hate to lose the new rumoured features of a better battery, smaller notch, and lidar.


The problem is my current iPhone 6 is really on it's death bed. I may need something to tie me over.
(I borrowed a friend's iPhone 11 Pro to try out and possibly buy, but found it too heavy and bulky)

I might have to bite the bullet and pick up an iPhone SE 2020 to use for 6 months and then trade in for the 13.
The other option is to just buy a 12 mini and call it a day.

Enjoy a new 12 mini if you absolutely need a new phone. If the 13 mini will be something that have improvements that you want than you will sell the 12 mini

 

[satchmo]

Enjoy a new 12 mini if you absolutely need a new phone. If the 13 mini will be something that have improvements that you want than you will sell the 12 mini

True. I wonder if the 12 mini or the SE would depreciate more in 6 months.

 

[rui no onna]

I think I'm going to try and hold out for an iPhone 13 mini. The key word is try.

Given we're about 6 months away, I'd hate to lose the new rumoured features of a better battery, smaller notch, and lidar.


The problem is my current iPhone 6 is really on it's death bed. I may need something to tie me over.
(I borrowed a friend's iPhone 11 Pro to try out and possibly buy, but found it too heavy and bulky)

I might have to bite the bullet and pick up an iPhone SE 2020 to use for 6 months and then trade in for the 13.
The other option is to just buy a 12 mini and call it a day.

If you're in the US and have postpaid Verizon or AT&T, I think you can get the SE 2020 for $150. You do need to sign up for an installment plan but unlike most deals, you get the cash discount upfront and there's no early payment penalty.

 

[mhdena]

"I may need something to tie me over."

The best "tie me over" is to buy a battery for your 6 and then get a new phone in September.

That or get one now.

 

[L23]

As I have written before for future software updates! There will be times when 4GB isn't enough for a SW update anymore. And 13 Mini could and probably will be the last Mini, so it has to last for many years. So 4GB for the 13 Mini would be a Nogo.

Support for devices often, not always, is dropped because of RAM or better those devices with least RAM often don't get an update after a few years. 6GB would make a big difference to the 12 Mini with 4GB. And as said I want to use a Mini for a long time.

I don’t think the 13 Mini will be the last Mini. We now have the same design for multiple years. Like the iPhone X, XS and 11. So unless they go for a new design/form factor after the iPhone 13 line I expect at least a third Mini.

And if you upgrade every year, because you think it will be the last iPhone Mini, it wouldn’t make sense to worry about software updates years down the line.

even if the iPhone 13 Mini is the last Mini, you can buy it cheaper at a later time if you really need it. The iphone 12 Mini will be good for 6 years.