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iPhone 13 mini How was your experience switching to iPhone 13 mini?

awshucks

awshucks

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 13, 2023
408
1,341
The Studio
I want to hear your experience if you downgraded to a 13 mini. Even if you didn't "downgrade", I'd still like to hear your experience.
I have iPhone 15 Pro but am thinking about buying a 13 mini.

-The thing I'll miss most is the action button, as I use it all the time as a play/pause shortcut.
-I use a MagSafe Duo so will mostly not miss USB-C.
-The camera features are not important to me, since I would use my Canon mirrorless if I want to take nice photos.
-I don't care about ProMotion, Apple Intelligence, or LiDAR.
-I like Dynamic Island but could get used to not having it.


Are the speakers a noticeable downgrade? I play a lot of stuff out of the speakers.

Thanks in advance!
 
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it's just a phone. it's an iphone.


I didn't 'downgrade', I bought it when it was new, but there's literally nothing special about it. It's just a modern phone. It's fast, it's responsive, it works. It's smaller than a 15 Pro. No dynamic island, that's all.
 
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^this.

Went from SE 2020 to 13 Mini in 2023. Size with modern-ish processor that should give me at least three more years (hoping for five).

I don't live on my phone, it's basically an iPod Touch that makes calls, texts, Notes, health apps, and PDA functions and few a apps (read: no video streaming or games). Battery holds up well enough, slow charge on an old 5W brick, so two years in, battery health is still >90%.

Camera is OK for occasional snap, but like OP, if want to be serious, I bring my mirrorless camera.

There are several threads that are a Venn diagram of this topic. For example:

 
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I don’t think you should do it. I went from a 12 mini to a 14 Pro, and just a few months ago bought an Apple Refurbished 13 mini. I regretted the switch from the 12 mini to the 14 Pro at the time, and been really wanting an excuse to get the 13 mini since.

I used the 13 mini for two months. I really liked it. It was nice having a small phone again. After that honeymoon phase with it went away, I realized I miss a lot of things with the 14 Pro and went back to it.

You say you don’t care about those features. I really didn’t either, until I didn’t have them anymore. The AOD, promotion, Dynamic Island, and improved cameras are all nice features to have. Not needed, but I missed them. And thinking about the satellite and crash detection features - I hope I never need to use them, though I’d be glad that they're there if I do.

The speakers were okay, they didn’t sound as deep as my 14 Pro's.
 
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Technically I upgraded. Normally I keep my phone for 5+ years (replacing the battery along the way). When they discontinued the 13 mini I upgraded immediately from a 12 mini to retain the form factor for as long as possible.
 
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The biggest problem with the 13 mini is its battery.
But if you have a new Apple battery and change a few settings, everything will work fine.

Choose a premium grade on Back Market or Amazon to get all the original parts.
Then budget €100 to replace the battery with Apple.

The 13 mini can become your best friend. 👍
 
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I had an SE 1st gen from September 2016 - April 2021, then got a 12 Mini - In December 2021 I got a 13 Mini as a a) the rumours of the 13 Mini being the last were circulating and a family member needed a new phone so I thought why not.

Battery life is so so, but with a MagSafe battery it's fantastic.

I honestly don't know what I'll do when the 13 Mini no longer serves my needs. I find 6.1" to be gigantic, there is no way I can use it one handed. To me the 5.4 inch screen is massive still.
 
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Had the mini for 3 years. While i was the only one I can think of here in my neighborhood I really liked the one handed use. Thought i could not get used to a bigger phone.

Bit I went to a 15pro after i killed the minis screen. Honestly a few days after I adapted.

The battery and missing tele are the only reasons I wouldn’t go back. 120hz and sound quality not worth it.
 
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I used the 1st gen SE for as long as I could, loved the size.

When Apple seemed to have given up on decent sized phones I finally caved and bought the Xs.
It was heavy, slippery and not very great to use one handed.

Ironically Apple shortly after released both the 2nd gen SE and the 12 mini.
Was a bit excited for the 12 mini but since I had a fairly new phone I thought it was better to wait for the 13 mini.

One of the largest screens ever from Apple (at the time) but still a really small device,
so one handed use was still going to be great. All I wanted for so many years.

But..

Turned out even I (and not just the rest of the market) had moved on a bit.
Post pandemic I no longer commute all that much so one handed use is not as important anymore.
The use case for smartphones has changed a bit since the iPhone came out,
developers are not targeting 4-5" devices anymore so you get as sub standard experience at times.
The "feel" of the device is a bit cheap when coming from Apples higher end models.
Batterylife is not that great.

Don't get me wrong it's not a horrible device,
I just feel that Apple kinda robbed us of a holy grail device by releasing it a bit too late and by not making it a "PRO".
It was only ever going to be a fairly low volume product anyway so making low cost made little sense.

I still use the 13 mini as my daily driver but when ever I pick up my old Xs it still fells like a much better device.
As long as I'm on the couch that is, on the go it's horrible.

Not sure what's next since iPhones still get larger and larger every year.
Think I might need Apple to sort out AI so the iPhone can just stay in a bag all day and I can just use the AirPods.
 
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Holding on to my 13 mini as long as possible, my battery is at 82% now so will probably change that out later in the year, I am curious to go and hold the air when it’s released, however looking at the dummies, it’s still huge no matter how thin it is. Anyway , holding on to hope apple will do a small phone again before my 13 mini dies
 
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I owned a 13 Mini for an entire year, and the only reason I bought a 14 Pro Max is because my eyesight is getting worse.

The 13 screen is a great size for browsing and other uses use, but I needed the bigger screen in order to use a larger font while still fitting everything on the screen. I tried something similar with the Mini, and it was a bit cramped. Otherwise, I had an amazing time with the phone. The battery life was pretty good, but obviously going to a pro max was a massive improvement.

Personally, I feel that the Mini is so good, that I don’t see a reason why the regular 6.1 inch iPhones even exist. They aren’t small enough to be small, but their battery life isn’t good enough to be considered a huge upgrade over the Mini. Too bad they aren’t upgrading it anymore. Otherwise, I would happily recommend it.
 
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I recently purchased my green 13 Mini to use as a backup iPhone. These days I am looking for light and compact as well as thin iPhones for my use case. I have an iPhone 13 which has been doing well but decided I wanted something more compact which I feel the 13 Mini will do very well.

EDIT: I have since replaced my 15 Pro Max with this 13 Mini. I still have my iPhone 13 as well. Very happy with the Mini.
 
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Two iPhone13minis for us, one upgraded from an OG SE, the other from iPhone7. Both of us wish the iPhone13mini were smaller, more like the SE, but they meet our needs in an only slightly clumsy form factor. Larger phones not desired, and we’ve been avoiding them successfully so far. Given no future mini-sized iPhone, our next smartphone may have to be (shudder) Android.
 
9 months ago I upgraded from an 8 to a 13 Mini. :D I still miss Touch ID and 3D Touch, but the battery life is better and the size is good for me.
 
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i went from a moto razr flip phone to an iphone 4s to an iphone OGSE (which I still use). I am considering getting a 13 mini next. I like smaller phones.
 
CC91UK said:
9 months ago I upgraded from an 8 to a 13 Mini. :D I still miss Touch ID and 3D Touch, but the battery life is better and the size is good for me.
Click to expand...
I switched from a Samsung Galaxy s9 to the iPhone 13 mini. I also have an iPhone 6s for another line. I prefer touch ID over face ID. App support is dwindling on the 6s so I need to find a replacement. I am considering an iPhone 15 or 16 but I'm unsure because of the size.
 
MacInTO said:
I switched from a Samsung Galaxy s9 to the iPhone 13 mini. I also have an iPhone 6s for another line. I prefer touch ID over face ID. App support is dwindling on the 6s so I need to find a replacement. I am considering an iPhone 15 or 16 but I'm unsure because of the size.
Click to expand...
I went from my 15 Pro Max (I know . . . bigger size compared to the 15 or 16) to my 13 Mini primarily because of the weight and size of the phone. As a primary iPhone, the 15 Pro Max was and is still a fantastic iPhone to use however I replaced my 15 Pro Max with the new Air as I was seeking an iPhone that was considerably lighter.

Going with that, it did not make sense to have a heavier larger iPhone to serve as a backup iPhone so this is where my 13 Mini comes into play . . . since getting my 13 Mini, I have been very pleased with the size and still usability of this device. I feel the 13 Mini is still a solid device you can use today especially if you desire a light and compact iPhone to use.

EDIT: I just pulled the trigger on my new Dark Blue 17 Pro which will be used from time to time but not replace the iPhones I'm currently using (my primary iPhone being the Air and 13 mini as my backup). I will continue using my iPhones in this manner until the time comes that I expect to take more detailed picture/videos where the advantages of having the Pro will be better utilized. Nice to have options even with iPhones :apple:
 
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I have a 17 and 13 mini.

I've been using the 13 since release. Love it. But I'm aware that it's usable time on earth is limited, and didn't want to have a similar situation to my SE1, where it was really really slow and I just couldn't give it up: so I bought an iPhone 17.

My thoughts on the 17: The mute button is worthless, and I prefer the toggle. The camera button is somehow the worst implementation of a camera button I've ever used. The always on display is great, although I can't really tell the difference between 60hz and 120hz. The USB-C port is fantastic. iOS 26 is somehow more fisher-price-esque than XP, without bringing anything new to the table. Battery life is superb, even compared to my mini with a new OEM battery.

Looking at the screen gives me headaches, so I went back to my 13 mini with iOS18.
 
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thejadedmonkey said:
I have a 17 and 13 mini.

I've been using the 13 since release. Love it. But I'm aware that it's usable time on earth is limited, and didn't want to have a similar situation to my SE1, where it was really really slow and I just couldn't give it up: so I bought an iPhone 17.

My thoughts on the 17: The mute button is worthless, and I prefer the toggle. The camera button is somehow the worst implementation of a camera button I've ever used. The always on display is great, although I can't really tell the difference between 60hz and 120hz. The USB-C port is fantastic. iOS 26 is somehow more fisher-price-esque than XP, without bringing anything new to the table. Battery life is superb, even compared to my mini with a new OEM battery.

Looking at the screen gives me headaches, so I went back to my 13 mini with iOS18.
Click to expand...
The mute toggle was classic. That was likely borrowed from the Palm Treo. I had a couple Palm Treos and the mute switch was great. I recently had my iPhone on mute for a few days and couldn't figure out why I was missing calls and messages! 😂

I agree with you on the camera button. I've tried the camera button in store and it seems redundant and pointless because I can do everything on the screen with my thumb while holding the phone with one hand. The camera button requires two hands to use properly. Trying to use it with one hand makes it awkward to use.
 
My last upgrade was from a 12 mini to 13 mini. I'm a runner so I like small phones that fit in small places. Battery life has been fine. I used to carry a spare battery pack but I never needed it so stopped carrying it.

My one complaint about both minis: the 4GB of RAM. I suspect the limited RAM is what accounts for iOS killing apps in the background. In particular, Overcast does an incomplete job saving state so I have to manually navigate back to the spot in the playlist each time iOS kills Overcast. The Overcast developer knows about the issue but just doesn't care to fix it and make up for my mini's limited RAM.

Except for that, I love my 13 mini and it doesn't bother me enough to carry a larger phone.
 
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