Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

iPhone 13 mini I switched back to the 13mini and wow

I’ve had pretty much every iPhone since the OG. Stopped with the 13 Mini. It was a game changer for me, that sleek new look with a small form factor. Love it. New battery this year and it’s just like new. I have the 13 mini leather iPhone case as well, although it’s not as good a leather as the 11 Pro case, its miles better than the stupid new stuff. I swear, sometimes Apple’s decisions baffle me. But in the end they are much like any other company, throwing noodles at the wall to see what sticks.

I’d buy a new mini in a heart beat, but at this point I’ll use my 13 mini till it can’t get software updates because its unlikely that Apple will give us fans a new device. Dream phone is a mini Pro, but that’s way too niche I’m sure.
 
  • Like
Reactions: zapster, scrane and xpxp2002
roxysdad said:
Dream phone is a mini Pro, but that’s way too niche I’m sure.
Click to expand...
I really think this is where Apple missed the mark. The Pro models outsell every other model that Apple has made year-after-year, except the "mainstream" base model. And that is likely due to corporate buyers who choose the base model for employee-issued phones. A "mini Pro" model would likely sell far better than the non-Pro minis. I stand by the belief that the mini was primarily created to provide a way for Apple to bump the price of the base model up $100 while maintaining a price point that let them technically continue to say "starting at $699".

Personally, the main reason I had trouble sticking with the mini over the years was solely because of the lack of ProMotion and the telephoto lens. A lot of people I know, "deal with" an obnoxiously large iPhone 13 Pro/14 Pro/15 Pro, not because of battery life or size, but because they want the "Pro" hardware.

I went from a 12 mini to a 13 mini to a 15 Pro. I felt like the titanium helped make the 15 Pro palatable enough to tolerate because of its lighter weight. But it's still too heavy and too large. I just wish I could get the best CPU, better camera (just drop the useless ultrawide lens to make room for the telephoto), and best display in a reasonable size and weight.
 
  • Like
  • Haha
Reactions: Chidoro, Arctic Moose and timeconsumer
If I was in charge what I’d do is split the mini off into its own line (i.e. iPad mini) and price it somewhat close to the SE and see how it does. It’d give them more flexibility with upgrading it and keep it away from the numbered iPhones.
 
  • Like
Reactions: tomtad
xpxp2002 said:
I really think this is where Apple missed the mark. The Pro models outsell every other model that Apple has made year-after-year, except the "mainstream" base model. And that is likely due to corporate buyers who choose the base model for employee-issued phones. A "mini Pro" model would likely sell far better than the non-Pro minis. I stand by the belief that the mini was primarily created to provide a way for Apple to bump the price of the base model up $100 while maintaining a price point that let them technically continue to say "starting at $699".

Personally, the main reason I had trouble sticking with the mini over the years was solely because of the lack of ProMotion and the telephoto lens. A lot of people I know, "deal with" an obnoxiously large iPhone 13 Pro/14 Pro/15 Pro, not because of battery life or size, but because they want the "Pro" hardware.

I went from a 12 mini to a 13 mini to a 15 Pro. I felt like the titanium helped make the 15 Pro palatable enough to tolerate because of its lighter weight. But it's still too heavy and too large. I just wish I could get the best CPU, better camera (just drop the useless ultrawide lens to make room for the telephoto), and best display in a reasonable size and weight.
Click to expand...
The size of the Pro models aren’t an issue for me but it’s the weight. The 15 Pro series is much better but still I would like to see it lighter. For some reason people think that heavy = premium. I’ve read it here on MacRumors where people say they prefer the 14 Pro over the 15 Pro because the stainless steel is heavier and therefore feels more premium to them.

Another example of this, Google Pixel devices used to be pretty light but with their 9 Pro series, they are as heavy as an iPhone Pro now, the reviewers are saying it feels more “premium” instead of heavy.

I personally just wish Apple dropped the standard and pro models but just offered the same device just with different cases. Give people the option of aluminum, stainless steel, or titanium. But everything else is exactly the same. That would allow those who prefer heavy devices to buy the stainless steel model so they can buy a “premium” device. They could have 3 different sizes, small (mini), medium (standard), and large (max). This could be similar to what they do with the Apple Watch.

I’d love to see a “Pro Mini” I don’t think we’ll see that until solid state batteries. The smaller battery and expectations of battery life (from Apple and end-users) of what Pro models should offer is what is holding back the Pro Mini idea.

For the corporate market (and more basic users) they could utilize the iPhone SE model and update that every 2-3 years or whatever they deem appropriate.
 
FlyingTexan said:
I don’t think that true. I think most people didn’t like the feature set. No one wants a 1x zoom camera compared to a 3-5x. It was one of the main reasons I upgraded initially. Kept having to digital zoom and it sucks
Click to expand...

I think had they not released SE2020 in the spring the same year as 12 mini which was much cheaper at $399 iirc vs $699, and dropped the price another $100 to boot to be a $200 delta from the regular size model, and maybe even drop the 'mini' moniker make it the default model it might've sold like hot cakes.

12mini probably did flop so hard, planning for iPhone 14 they dropped the mini lineup well before 13mini even came out, which was already locked into the release schedule and signed off of on engineering wise.

..Would be a good opportunity to test the waters with SE4 but they are going with a 6.08" size phone there so we'll not know for sometime.
 
  • Like
Reactions: zapster
FlyingTexan said:
It made money just not as much as others. It still leads to services which is where the money is.
Click to expand...
I doubt mini made any money or profits. Tim Apple would have loved to make more. Unfortunately, Apple iPhone is volume game, if mini is taking away supply chain from other models. It’s just not worth, despite a very vocal minority.
 
I’m going to be getting the 6.3 16 Pro. My current 12PM is just getting annoying with the size.

I can’t image going even bigger at 6.9
 
tweaknmod said:
The things that stopped me from buying one then:
  • Battery life
  • Camera
Both of those could be addressed in a new model with the energy efficiency of the new chips, and similar advancements in cameras (and opting to put a better camera in the mini in the first place).

I don’t think we’ve seen the last of the mini. The time/tech wasn’t right at the time, but when it is… this mini will be back with a big mini splash.
Click to expand...
100% on this. The mini was perfect to me size wise. The issues were poor modems. If I leave mine plugged into the car and use CarPlay it eventually will get too hot to charge. But I do love the thing and think the newer IOS versions are better with it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: xpxp2002 and tweaknmod
The mini was a fantastic device. I would probably say they could go a little bit bigger, but definitely not as big as the current iPhone 15/16. With the mini being 5.4" and the 15/16 being 6.1", I think they could make a wonderful device at 5.7".
 
Dhonk said:
The mini was a fantastic device. I would probably say they could go a little bit bigger, but definitely not as big as the current iPhone 15/16. With the mini being 5.4" and the 15/16 being 6.1", I think they could make a wonderful device at 5.7".
Click to expand...

iPhone with 5.8” screen could be their new Mini, and I'm sure a lot of people will be happy with it.
 
Quackington said:
Nice one, OP. I’m going in the opposite direction. I’ve been using a 13 Mini for the past 3 years and have decided that above all, I value battery life. So come the new phones launch in a month or so, I’ll probably be switching to the Plus or Pro Max models. I’ll have two weeks to return it if it’s too big and I don’t like it, and if that happens, I’ll just get one of the standard size 16 models.
Click to expand...
I replaced battery on my 13mini, so im good again for some time.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Quackington, rocketbuc, Lioness~ and 1 other person
johannnn said:
- really bad battery
- old processor by todays standard
- 60hz screen

for those reasons I would never use an 13 Mini today.

but if it got slightly thicker and the new stacked battery, with A18, and 120hz, then heck yea!
Click to expand...
battery was the only thing that made the phone awful. I want a modern one so bad.
 
  • Like
Reactions: rocketbuc
iBreatheApple said:
battery was the only thing that made the phone awful. I want a modern one so bad.
Click to expand...
I've had my Mini 12 for 4 years and the battery rarely let me down and is still 89% Nonetheless, I took advantage of the recent appearance of the Mini 13 on the Apple Refurb store. Slightly faster processor with huge increase in storage space. (I went from 64G to 512G.) Working fine with iOS 18 and I'll be happy for another 4 years or as long as Apple keeps issuing iOS releases for it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Eric_WVGG and geta
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back