iPhone 12 mini How many Mini owners here?

[secretk]

Sorry I disagree. I’m a VERY heavy user of Apple Pay - 5x per day for 6days/wk. Phone is locked, pull from my jeans pocket glance and doubletap sleep/wake button boom ready before I bring my phone in one fluid motion over to the pay terminal.

With those against FaceID complaining you have to look at it, funny enough people wtih TouchID + ApplePay STILL look at their iPhone‘s when initiating payment - even though you KNOW what your default payment card is, sometimes people change it or change to AirMiles for points first. So that argument is mute.

I guess the problem is now with wearing face masks but we all know that FaceID cannot work with face masks.

How about a video showing us? Sincerely, not being a clown here but I’m wondering if the movement towards your face is rapid and stops abruptly. Since you’ve stated you bring the iphone so close to your face, maybe the dot matrix field of exposure is too narrow to capture your face - maybe your face has areas of high depths (aka a large pointed nose?)

I have similar issues. FaceID fails far often for me compared to TouchID. Granted I do wear glasses and maybe I do put the device closer to my face than it should be but I would not do it any other way for two reasons - I am shorty and I do not have long arms and I do not see that well. It is also not natural for me to keep the phone at longer distance than I do currently. I do have the setting to look at it turned on and I am always confused where I should look at. Is it like the phone in general (so in the middle of the screen) or it is around the notch. Either way fails often enough.

FaceID is MUCH faster and almost as accurate in long field of view away from the face as the 2018 iPad Pro models. It’s super fast and accurate. Maybe you have the setting to look at the phone and you never do so it‘ll not verify you’re wanting to use FaceID.

For me Touch ID is definitely faster than FaceId. I am not talking about huge difference of course, it is in the matter of second or two but FaceID is slower. It is also the animation itself. Quite often I take the phone and I want to unlock it. I would see the passcode screen, the phone would recognize my face and would fill in the 6 dots. I don't know why it happens like that but this basically takes more time than using TouchID.

I enjoy FaceId on my iPad when I am using it with the keyboard. Authentication and payment works better with FaceID and is faster because I do not need to reach out to touch the home button. When it comes to the phone, TouchID is still faster and more seamless for me.

 

[5105973]

I’m seriously contemplating returning my 12 Pro for a mini simply for the size difference. Coming from an X…the 12 pro is a fantastic phone but perhaps too large and heavy for my liking.

My one concern would be the “yellow tint” display issue that so many have brought up. I even notice it with my pro while I’m scrolling in the dark. Have you guys been experiencing those same display issues with the mini?

I got a purple mini for Mother’s Day. The display is much crisper, sharper and just overall better than the one on my 12 Pro Max. The pro max display looks washed out next to it. It’s hard to describe. The display is better than the one on my release day mini which looks pinker. And both of my other release day iPhones have that weird glow in the dark problem when playing a video or picture that should be pure black in a dark room. The new mini doesn’t have this.

I don’t know if the yellow display problem was dealt with but I do think some quality improvement must have been made.

I had a 12 Pro. It was heavy for its size and the camera was not worth it to me. The 12 Pro Max camera was. They need to make the cameras go back to parity between the sizes.

I like the mini the best. It’s a good all around phone. It can also get macro shots the lidar enabled phones struggle with for now. I do still like the Pro Max camera though. And pro Max plays nicest with my pwm sensitivity.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I'm considering a 13 Mini if it has ProMotion in it. Phones are getting too big, I have an iPad if I want a big device

It probably won't have ProMotion. That kind of feature is often reserved for the top tier phone. Promotion won't really be noticeable on such a small phone.

 

[Jay-Jacob]

Since I have my iPhone 12 mini from launch day it been great! It looks so small and big same time cos screen bigger than iPhone 8 but device size feel small (perfect for me).

Apple pay: I defo prefer Touch ID iPhone for Apple Pay. It just so much smoother. Take iPhone out of pocket and put on payment device and put thumb on iPhone and done. No need unlock it before do that. Face ID take more steps. Even I have Apple Watch I still use my iPhone for Apple Pay with iPhone 8 (before get iPhone 12 mini) cos it always there ready and it just easier. Since have iPhone 12 mini I use my Apple watch for Apple Pay cos it better than Face ID for Apple Pay.

Everything else for Face ID is so smooth and quick and prefer it over Touch ID. Touch ID only advantage over Face ID is Apple Pay.

For Apple Pay order I prefer is: Touch ID > Apple Watch > Face ID

 

[snipr125]

For me personally:
Touch ID>Pin>Face ID

But the flat edge iphone 4 design of the 12 series, especially the 12 mini form factor (turned off face id and use pin), made me upgrade from the comfort of the 8+ and SE2.
I honestly believe that the 12 mini, right now, has got to be considered one of the best iphones of all time.

 

[Barbareren]

I honestly believe that the 12 mini, right now, has got to be considered the best iphone of all time.

Mini power! 💪

 

[eatrains]

How about a video showing us? Sincerely, not being a clown here but I’m wondering if the movement towards your face is rapid and stops abruptly. Since you’ve stated you bring the iphone so close to your face, maybe the dot matrix field of exposure is too narrow to capture your face - maybe your face has areas of high depths (aka a large pointed nose?)

Sorry maybe you just want it to fail? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

LMAO … I did that when the IPhone X debuted and it was returned in 14 days swapped + cash to me for the iPhone 8.

FaceID is MUCH faster and almost as accurate in long field of view away from the face as the 2018 iPad Pro models. It’s super fast and accurate. Maybe you have the setting to look at the phone and you never do so it‘ll not verify you’re wanting to use FaceID.

Attention is not set as required. How about you try holding your phone close to your face and tell me if it recognizes you?

I paid a lot of money for this phone. I don’t want it to fail, but it does. Because Face ID is a downgrade from Touch ID in every way. It sure was nice to be able to open my phone in one step instead of two, or to use Apple Pay in one step instead of three, or not having to type in my passcode every time I’m not in Face ID’s precise field of view.

 

[Tagbert]

I love my 12 mini. Yes the smaller battery is noticeable coming from the iPhone 11 but I am not a very heavy phone user and I still have 25-30% left at night so it works for me. Love how light the iPhone is in my hand and pockets.

I’m not sure why people are so concerned about the mini’s battery life. It’s definitely better than the iPhone 8 that I upgraded from and the mini’s batty life is about 88% of the full size 12. I normally have about 50% charge left at the end of the day. Not really a problem

 

[Phone Junky]

Attention is not set as required. How about you try holding your phone close to your face and tell me if it recognizes you?

I paid a lot of money for this phone. I don’t want it to fail, but it does. Because Face ID is a downgrade from Touch ID in every way. It sure was nice to be able to open my phone in one step instead of two, or to use Apple Pay in one step instead of three, or not having to type in my passcode every time I’m not in Face ID’s precise field of view.

I guess you could have figured all of that out within your return window and stayed with your TouchID phone. Seems like a better solution than to gripe about something that you made the decision to buy and keep even though it doesn’t live up to your standards.

 

[Tagbert]

I have a Mini 128GB. Last phone was an iPhone XS. I don't regret buying a Mini, but I don't know if I'd buy it again, either. I love how small it is. It's very light, fits easily in my pocket, and is generally a joy to use. Personally, I don't think it feels at all faster than my wife's XS, but I don't need it to be faster.

For me, the negatives are that it's hard on my eyes (I'm 40), and the battery life is shorter. The battery life isn't terrible. I knew I was going to get a smaller battery with this, and it's been reasonable, given its size. But if you're used to a Plus/Max phone or even the XR, this is going to seem like a crummy battery. I'm 40, so my eyes aren't what they used to be, and extended reading periods on the phone do cause my eyes to strain a bit. They don't strain when I use my wife's XS. But these are the tradeoffs. You can't have a tiny phone with the best battery life and biggest screen. I wish I could somehow travel around town with the Mini and look at an 12 Pro Max screen.

Do you really feel like the mini is “tiny” compared to your wife’s XS? I can understand it if you are coming from a Max but the XS is only slightly larger than the mini.

 

[eatrains]

I guess you could have figured all of that out within your return window and stayed with your TouchID phone. Seems like a better solution than to gripe about something that you made the decision to buy and keep even though it doesn’t live up to your standards.

Except there is no Touch ID upgrade path available.

 

[RRC]

Except there is no Touch ID upgrade path available.

You don’t have to upgrade though…I think that is the point they are making, the last iPhone with Touch ID does everything that any latest iPhone can do apart from the camera difference.

 

[secretk]

You don’t have to upgrade though…I think that is the point they are making, the last iPhone with Touch ID does everything that any latest iPhone can do apart from the camera difference.

That and the screen. I was left with the impression that iPhone SE has LCD screen while the new Face ID phones have OLED (excluding 11 and XR of course).

It depends on the person of course but I bought my iPhone for the camera. So for me this is a focal point. And this is why I accept that FaceID would be hit or miss for me at the expense of the camera features that I want. That does not mean that from time to time I do not wonder how much unreliable is FaceID for me. I just know that I will either have the camera setup I want at the expense of FaceID being well average or I will have reliable TouchID and average camera setup.

 

[amigosan]

Got a 12 mini 128gb a little less than a week ago : so far amazing !!

i’ve been waiting for this form factor for so long...

So light, easy to use, and powerful with this amazing hardware and iOS optimization
Furthermore Apple’s privacy policies and transparency is a biiiig pro that I love in comparaison to google products.

Battery Life while reading news / watching videos is amazing for the moment. Since this morning I have already 3:30hrs SoT, I am at 70% percentage (iOS 14.2.1)

The only drawback is FaceID that is failing when the phone is close to my face or when i’m looking from a little too high angle (but is still is pretty fast and amazing to use)

I hope they’ll never stop making mini’s !!

I really love this phone it is amazing. So amazing that I’m thinking or buying an iPad in a couple of time maybe... having such a great phone, and being able to benefit from this good ecosystem seems to be nice

Not planning to take a 13mini. The only thing that could make me change is if they add Touch ID back again

anyway that was my first week review

(PS : coming from a Huawei p30)

(PS2 : have been using the screen at 1/3 lumonisty max. Wondering how the battery will last under a big sun

still have to test at least 1 more month to get a better idea of real battery life)

 

[DeepIn2U]

Attention is not set as required. How about you try holding your phone close to your face and tell me if it recognizes you?

I paid a lot of money for this phone. I don’t want it to fail, but it does. Because Face ID is a downgrade from Touch ID in every way. It sure was nice to be able to open my phone in one step instead of two, or to use Apple Pay in one step instead of three, or not having to type in my passcode every time I’m not in Face ID’s precise field of view.

I hold my iPhone 12 Mini to my face and as I’ve already stead it DOES recognize me and VERY fast. I wasn’t trying to be rude mentioned if you have a large nose - I was being matter of fact if the dot matrix emitter was too close it would not layout the depth of such a face if held TOO close.

If you need to hold it close where a person that doesn’t use glasses to read would go cross-eyed to read default text size; maybe it’s not the phone for you.

You paid a lot of money for the phone - so did I - I paid FULL retail for a 256GB iPhone 12 Mini in Canadian dollars - your spend is no more valuable than mine nor anyone else’s. IF you feel you spent too much money RETURN it for a full refund before 14 Days is up, if you didn’t then THAT is on you.

Again YOU chose a device that you’re stating fails For your use case and is s downgrade to Touch ID - why did you keep it beyond the first few days then?

For the record even with Touch ID …. NOBODY ever opened their phone (it’s actually called unlocking the phone - opening is physically opening the phone’s internals) in 1 step. Unlocking an iPhone 5S to iPhone 8/SE 2020 is 2 steps just like FaceID

1. Click the home button, this wakes up the screen
2. Touch ID recognizes the finger print
^ try unlocking without clicking .. the lock icon will show UNLOCKED but you cannot get past the notification screen without pressing the Home Button

Face ID:

1. Click the sleep wake

 

[rui no onna]

For the record even with Touch ID …. NOBODY ever opened their phone (it’s actually called unlocking the phone - opening is physically opening the phone’s internals) in 1 step. Unlocking an iPhone 5S to iPhone 8/SE 2020 is 2 steps just like FaceID

1. Click the home button, this wakes up the screen
2. Touch ID recognizes the finger print
^ try unlocking without clicking .. the lock icon will show UNLOCKED but you cannot get past the notification screen without pressing the Home Button

Face ID:

1. Click the sleep wake

Accessibility -> Rest Finger to Open

With 1st gen TouchID, I keep my finger on the home button an extra second longer after pressing to unlock. With 2nd gen TouchID, unlock happens super quick that on the rare occasions I wish to look at a message on the lock screen, I would use the power button to wake up the display first. Otherwise, it pretty much unlocks immediately after pressing the home button.

 

[eatrains]

I hold my iPhone 12 Mini to my face and as I’ve already stead it DOES recognize me and VERY fast. I wasn’t trying to be rude mentioned if you have a large nose - I was being matter of fact if the dot matrix emitter was too close it would not layout the depth of such a face if held TOO close.

If you need to hold it close where a person that doesn’t use glasses to read would go cross-eyed to read default text size; maybe it’s not the phone for you.

You paid a lot of money for the phone - so did I - I paid FULL retail for a 256GB iPhone 12 Mini in Canadian dollars - your spend is no more valuable than mine nor anyone else’s. IF you feel you spent too much money RETURN it for a full refund before 14 Days is up, if you didn’t then THAT is on you.

Again YOU chose a device that you’re stating fails For your use case and is s downgrade to Touch ID - why did you keep it beyond the first few days then?

For the record even with Touch ID …. NOBODY ever opened their phone (it’s actually called unlocking the phone - opening is physically opening the phone’s internals) in 1 step. Unlocking an iPhone 5S to iPhone 8/SE 2020 is 2 steps just like FaceID

1. Click the home button, this wakes up the screen
2. Touch ID recognizes the finger print
^ try unlocking without clicking .. the lock icon will show UNLOCKED but you cannot get past the notification screen without pressing the Home Button

Face ID:

1. Click the sleep wake

Of course Face ID recognizes your face if you hold the phone out away from you. I'm talking about if you hold it close. I'm talking about situations where Touch ID worked and Face ID does not.

If this isn't the phone for me, what is? Is there a 4" SE 3 with Touch ID coming? I'm one of the many for whom the mini was a phone of last resort. And there's nothing wrong with noting that your only option is in many ways worse than what you had before.

 

[DeepIn2U]

Accessibility -> Rest Finger to Open

With 1st gen TouchID, I keep my finger on the home button an extra second longer after pressing to unlock. With 2nd gen TouchID, unlock happens super quick that on the rare occasions I wish to look at a message on the lock screen, I would use the power button to wake up the display first. Otherwise, it pretty much unlocks immediately after pressing the home button.

so you’re enabling an Accessibility option - which again is NOT the default behaviour. Also it doesn’t work if the screen is locked and off. Still 2 steps. Good try though

 

[DeepIn2U]

Of course Face ID recognizes your face if you hold the phone out away from you. I'm talking about if you hold it close. I'm talking about situations where Touch ID worked and Face ID does not.

If this isn't the phone for me, what is? Is there a 4" SE 3 with Touch ID coming? I'm one of the many for whom the mini was a phone of last resort. And there's nothing wrong with noting that your only option is in many ways worse than what you had before.

I think you’re reaching for those situations that FaceID doesn’t work to align with you detesting the hardware feature - which you’re entitled to but stating it’s all FaceIDs fault you can see that it’s not universally disliked. I mean how often is someone carrying their iPhone so close to their face to begin with to unlock with FaceID to fail so often as you originally alluded to. ??

why was the 12 mini - with FaceID biometric security which you detest so much, the iPhone of last resort when the iPhone SE 2nd gen HD been out for 6mths prior to its launch?!
This far in this thread, you’re the only person stating the mini was of last resort and not a phone by choice.

the reach is very long and hard here when the alternative is quite short and cheaper indeed.

 

[DeepIn2U]

Of course Face ID recognizes your face if you hold the phone out away from you. I'm talking about if you hold it close. I'm talking about situations where Touch ID worked and Face ID does not.

If this isn't the phone for me, what is? Is there a 4" SE 3 with Touch ID coming? I'm one of the many for whom the mini was a phone of last resort. And there's nothing wrong with noting that your only option is in many ways worse than what you had before.

some helpful links on FaceID if you have t taken a look as of yet.

About Face ID advanced technology - Apple Support (CA)

Learn how Face ID helps protect your information on your iPhone and iPad Pro.

support.apple.com

The TrueDepth camera has a similar range of view as when you take a photo or make a FaceTime call with the front camera. Face ID works best when the device is arm’s length or less from your face (25-50 cm away from your face).

Use Face ID on your iPhone or iPad Pro - Apple Support (CA)

Face ID lets you securely unlock your iPhone or iPad, authenticate purchases, sign in to apps, and more, all with just a glance.

support.apple.com

Before you set up Face ID, make sure that there isn't anything covering the TrueDepth camera or your face. Face ID is designed to work with glasses and contacts. You can't set up Face ID if anything is obstructing your nose and mouth, like a face mask. Face ID works best when your iPhone or iPad is approximately an arm’s length or closer (10-20 inches) from your face.

CNet somewhat echoes your gripe back with the original iPhone X or XS launch time frames (generation 1) and reached out to Apple for help and advice….

iPhone's Face ID isn't perfect, but you can make it better

Face ID has its quirks. Before you get frustrated, try these tricks.

www.cnet.com

The system is focused mostly on the details around your eyes, nose and mouth. If you obstruct anything in that zone, you're going to get a fail.

Face ID also looks for your eyes to be open and glancing toward the phone. And it works best if the phone is held 10 to 20 inches away from your face.

That means if you try to unlock the phone in bed while, leaning against a pillow, or with eyes squinted, or if you hold the phone too close to your face, you're going to get a fail.

 

[eatrains]

I think you’re reaching for those situations that FaceID doesn’t work to align with you detesting the hardware feature - which you’re entitled to but stating it’s all FaceIDs fault you can see that it’s not universally disliked. I mean how often is someone carrying their iPhone so close to their face to begin with to unlock with FaceID to fail so often as you originally alluded to. ??

why was the 12 mini - with FaceID biometric security which you detest so much, the iPhone of last resort when the iPhone SE 2nd gen HD been out for 6mths prior to its launch?!
This far in this thread, you’re the only person stating the mini was of last resort and not a phone by choice.

the reach is very long and hard here when the alternative is quite short and cheaper indeed.

The SE 2 is bigger than the mini. If I’d wanted a phone that big, I would’ve gotten a 6, 6S, 7, or 8 a long time ago. The point of the mini is that it’s small.

As I’ve mentioned, Face ID doesn’t work on a sofa, in bed, up close, any position where you're slightly outside its field of vision. Your CNET article says exactly what I’m saying, that Face ID works in far fewer situations than Touch ID. It has nothing to do with “detesting” a feature, it’s just the truth.

 

[DeepIn2U]

The SE 2 is bigger than the mini. If I’d wanted a phone that big, I would’ve gotten a 6, 6S, 7, or 8 a long time ago. The point of the mini is that it’s small.

As I’ve mentioned, Face ID doesn’t work on a sofa, in bed, up close, any position where you're slightly outside its field of vision. Your CNET article says exactly what I’m saying, that Face ID works in far fewer situations than Touch ID. It has nothing to do with “detesting” a feature, it’s just the truth.

Yeah I know the SE 2020 is bigger than the mini - BUT its’ the smallest TouchID iPhone you’ve got the choice of using.

iPhone 12 mini works PERFECTLY, from my daily use cases from the Sofa/love seat/bed. You’re reaching so hard for a reason to hate FaceID “any position where you're slightly outside its field of vision”! That’s like saying you were born with non working eyes because you cannot read font at size 26 from 100 feet away without magnification because “it is slightly outside your field of vision’.

THAT is detesting a feature. You want it to work outside if its’ designed specifications, function etc. Again you said ‘where you're slightly outside its field of vision“ not YOUR field of vision. That’s detesting a feature or hoping it works beyond it’s designed and manufactured purpose. Whatever ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ .

 

[DeepIn2U]

I guess the problem is now with wearing face masks but we all know that FaceID cannot work with face masks.

I have similar issues. FaceID fails far often for me compared to TouchID. Granted I do wear glasses and maybe I do put the device closer to my face than it should be but I would not do it any other way for two reasons - I am shorty and I do not have long arms and I do not see that well. It is also not natural for me to keep the phone at longer distance than I do currently. I do have the setting to look at it turned on and I am always confused where I should look at. Is it like the phone in general (so in the middle of the screen) or it is around the notch. Either way fails often enough.

For me Touch ID is definitely faster than FaceId. I am not talking about huge difference of course, it is in the matter of second or two but FaceID is slower. It is also the animation itself. Quite often I take the phone and I want to unlock it. I would see the passcode screen, the phone would recognize my face and would fill in the 6 dots. I don't know why it happens like that but this basically takes more time than using TouchID.

I enjoy FaceId on my iPad when I am using it with the keyboard. Authentication and payment works better with FaceID and is faster because I do not need to reach out to touch the home button. When it comes to the phone, TouchID is still faster and more seamless for me.

Ok … shawty i understand, but how close in cm/inches are you holding the iPhone (naturally holding it) to your face, as I’m curious. 2/5/10cm? When you see the passcode screen, then FaceID had already failed at least once - see WWDC when Craig failed (2017)

And I’ll agree that FaceID works a LOT faster or better on iPad Pro - I noticed that first day I got mine before I got the 12 mini.

PS: I wear glasses to read and I keep my font to the second smallest on my iPhone - every single one I’ve used since the 3GS, and I do the same on my computers as well just seems easier on my eyes.

Try playing around with the field of views to see what results you get.

 

[eatrains]

Yeah I know the SE 2020 is bigger than the mini - BUT its’ the smallest TouchID iPhone you’ve got the choice of using.

iPhone 12 mini works PERFECTLY, from my daily use cases from the Sofa/love seat/bed. You’re reaching so hard for a reason to hate FaceID “any position where you're slightly outside its field of vision”! That’s like saying you were born with non working eyes because you cannot read font at size 26 from 100 feet away without magnification because “it is slightly outside your field of vision’.

THAT is detesting a feature. You want it to work outside if its’ designed specifications, function etc. Again you said ‘where you're slightly outside its field of vision“ not YOUR field of vision. That’s detesting a feature or hoping it works beyond it’s designed and manufactured purpose. Whatever ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ .

I'm not "reaching" for anything. Face ID fails for me several times every day in situations where Touch ID did not. I never used to have to type in my passcode, now I do. It's not about wanting Face ID to work outside of its designed function, its about wanting it to work at least as well as Touch ID.

 

[rui no onna]

so you’re enabling an Accessibility option - which again is NOT the default behaviour. Also it doesn’t work if the screen is locked and off. Still 2 steps. Good try though

It's an option nonetheless and I use several Accessibility options (e.g. Reduce Motion, Reduce White Point, Assistive Touch) to make using my devices more convenient to me.

Bypassing the lock screen doesn't appear to be available for FaceID even in Accessibility. If anyone knows how to skip the swipe up gesture and just go directly to home screen/app, I'd love to know.

Also, Touch ID+Rest to Open definitely works with the screen locked and off. I can unlock the iPhone from my pocket and have the home screen or whatever the last app was open by the time the phone's in front of me.