iPhone 12 Mini: Five Rumored Features You Might Be Giving Up

[kerr]

Shouldn't we have expected an announcement already if the October event was to be on the 13th?

 

[Jimmy James]

I really dislike that features are tiered by size. I need to choose between a fully featured phone and starting to carry man purse. I get it for battery space but the rest is market positioning bogus.

 

[xpxp2002]

Shouldn't we have expected an announcement already if the October event was to be on the 13th?

They would likely announce an event for October 13th tomorrow.

 

[The Game 161]

Shouldn't we have expected an announcement already if the October event was to be on the 13th?

Likely tomorrow.

 

[locrumo]

Strange aspect ratio..

 

[Deinocheirus]

So you think the iPhone 12 mini is going to start at $999 like the iPhone X? I sure hope not.

It's rumored starting price was leaked recently. I think it was $699.

 

[dj322]

I hope the mini will be lighter than the xs. I used to have the 5s, the best compact phone ever and I loved the fact it was lightweight. I switched to the xs and ever since I have regretted it mostly because of the weight.

 

[jfeathe]

For people who buy a new phone every year, this may be true. But with more and more people keeping their iPhone for 3, 4, or 5 years; having 5G NR in this year's phone is extremely important.

I said the same thing a few days ago, but it bears repeating again. The iPhone 8/X generation fell victim to this exact attitude. The iPhone X has felt long in the tooth for some time now for one very big reason that no one seems to talk about: a three-year-old cellular radio. Even with the Qualcomm modem, you can't make up for the fact that carriers have moved on. They now have 5x carrier aggregation live, 4x4 MIMO antennas, LAA, CBRS, 256QAM modulation, and support for bands that the iPhone 8/X and older don't have, like B14. Collectively, these represent a huge improvement in the ability to hold a weak signal and speed/performance, especially on congested cell sites.

If Apple had waited another year to add 5G NR, this year's iPhone 12 devices would suffer the same fate, being obsolete at launch and suffering from poor coverage and lacking the ability to take advantage of capacity improvements that will be realized in 2021 with 5G NR. People keep complaining that "nobody asked for 5G," but in 6 months time when carriers are stealing 20 MHz channels away from LTE to augment their 5G capacity and LTE capacity and speeds deteriorate, we'll all be thankful that Apple didn't wait another year to deliver 5G.

I agree with most of what you said. It would be a poor idea to leave 5G out mostly because of expectations and partly due to future-proofing. Unfortunately though, Apple's recent history with stagnant updates means that an iPhone 12 with 5G - and nothing else - is yet one more year with nothing that fundamentally improves the iPhone experience.

Right now I cannot tell you the difference between a X, Xs, and 11. The iPhone 12 looks like nothing more than an X with 5G and a different shape that will be covered by a case. That's a major problem that Apple is now on its 4th year of fundamentally identical phones. If anything, 2019 was the year for 5G (to be the first) and 2020 was the year for notchless screen, 120hz refresh, major battery boost, etc.

I do have to say that this level of future-proofing with 5G is a bit overkill. I can't think of another feature or technology that was a must-have so early in its infancy. People are not going to see the benefits for some time. Likewise, LTE isn't going to be throttled anytime soon. And while this is going on, there are features that would make immediate improvements that Apple is delaying yet again just to get 5G in the phones.

But we will see, maybe the 12 has surprises up its sleeve that no leaker has discovered yet.

 

[puckhead193]

As someone coming from an iphone 8- it seems like the battery will be much larger capacity- 1800ish vs 2200ish? with a smaller screen (Yes!) I am hopeful this is actually quite an upgrade, I honestly don't mind if they do smaller!

This might be my moms next upgrade coming from an iPhone 8. She complains that her phone is too big and too heavy 🤷‍♂️

 

[Maschil]

i like that technology is increasing but i hate that 5g isnt that readily available but is affecting the cost of devices so much. 4G LTE in cities is already a ton fast. but its ok i guess.

I hope they have some decent color options on the pro models

 

[Maschil]

I hope the mini will be lighter than the xs. I used to have the 5s, the best compact phone ever and I loved the fact it was lightweight. I switched to the xs and ever since I have regretted it mostly because of the weight.

you actually prefer a light weight phone?? i wish there was site poll we could do on preferred screen size. I actually prefer the xs max but im getting the feeling that this may not be the norm

 

[Maschil]

I really dislike that features are tiered by size. I need to choose between a fully featured phone and starting to carry man purse. I get it for battery space but the rest is market positioning bogus.

that part is alittle unfortunate but you have to think about it this way. I think they are assuming that people who want the the smaller phones arent going to want to pay as much ie Se 2020 but its hard to balance who wants what size and what specs. I really wish we went back to a time where you got just a bigger screen and battery but everything else was the same for the plus model

 

[RadioHedgeFund]

I’m going to guess that with FaceID not working with masks the iPhone 12 range will all have fingerprint scanners in the power buttons as well as a reduced notch.

The notch has now become Apple’s ‘click wheel’ for the iPhone X onwards form and they won’t give it up.

 

[Abstract]

I mean, that's nice and all that they "like" the ultrawide. These are people who are going to buy the Pro with all three lenses anyway. But for normal people who don't know who no-name YouTubers are, they should be including the useful lenses. And just to be clear, I get what you're saying (Apple is catering to these nobodies who run the tech world now instead of the people who actually buy the majority of their products). This complaint isn't directed at you, it's directed at Apple.

To be honest, I don't understand the photographic accuracy of the lenses. I use the camera like "a normal," not some YouTube "celebrity." I just don't understand the point of the ultrawide lens. I've never been trying to take a photo and thought to myself, "I need to fit more stuff into the side of the frame." It's always already wide enough. Usually I'm walking closer to get stuff out of the frame. There are plenty of times I'm trying to get a good close-up photo of something or just couldn't get closer because of a door or window, and don't want to lose resolution to digital zoom. The telephoto lens is great for that. It just seems like common sense to include the 1x and 2x lenses. The YouTubers will get the ultrawide in the iPhone 12 Pro Super-Duper Max phablet anyway.

The ultrawide holds no allure for me either. I only upgraded from an SE1 to a Xs to get the so-called "telephoto" lens, as a 50mm prime on a Canon 6d is my preferred shooting setup (when portability isn't so much an issue anyhow), and the zoomed in lens/sensor on iPhones that have em' is pretty close to that focal length (more like 56mm 35 equivalent). But I've never gotten used to the girth and heft of the Xs, and the "telephoto" lens has noticeably less low light performance than the wide... so 12 mini it is for me, and I've found a nice man-bag to carry around a decent compact camera, probably the G5x Mark II, once someone finally has a sale on that model.

I figured the reason Apple included a wide and ultra-wide lens is because the two perspectives from those two lenses offers iPhones more useful depth-sensing information. Lenses with a longer focal length also offers that info, but would only do so for a much narrower, limiting FOV. Also, there may not be enough depth info for the AI because Apple’s “tele” lens really isn’t THAT long.

I don’t know for sure, but Portrait Mode used to work far better with the two lenses for this reason, and is why the XR’s Portrait mode could only be used on humans, not inanimate objects.

Having said that, the new phones will mostly now have LIDAR, so Apple could make that change soon. 🤷🏻‍♂️. They won’t though, since the longer lens also drives sales to the Pro models.

 

[hirsthirst]

- It's physically harder to fit (at least some of) these technologies into a smaller handset - the biggest will always have "the best" features & be more expensive.

- There'd also be considerably more bitchin' if the smallest was also the dearest - "why do I have to pay more ..." etc etc

- Macrumours forum is *not* representative of general consumer population

- How hard do you think it is to make a fairly small number of SKUs and simultaneously court c.100M consumers of every size, shape, age, budget, experience & use case on Earth? I think they're getting more right than wrong.

 

[Mimiron]

Giving up on a Lidar sensor? Oh c'mon! It's a frickin gimmick, I never used it on my iPad 2020, like the measure app is so bad even with a LIDAR sensor that I don't use it.

Also, 2020 iPhones won't have a 120 Hz refresh rate. I couldn't care less about faster 5G. By the time 5G will be present in my area we will have the iPhone 20.

Battery life is the only thing why it's worth buying a 12 over the mini and that's it.

tl;dr: the selling point for most will be the price tag.

 

[jfeathe]

that part is alittle unfortunate but you have to think about it this way. I think they are assuming that people who want the the smaller phones arent going to want to pay as much ie Se 2020 but its hard to balance who wants what size and what specs. I really wish we went back to a time where you got just a bigger screen and battery but everything else was the same for the plus model

I would prefer that too, but I recall even the 6s plus had camera improvements over the regular 6s. The 7 plus and 8 plus each had an additional 1GB of RAM over the 7 and 8. I understand needing spec boosts to help power the larger device but then it gets a little iffy when features are different between the two.

 

[beginnersview]

It is an obvious that the battery capacity of a small form-factor iphone will be substantially less than one of the Max large size phones.
The more useful perspective (as a possible buyer) would be to compare the phone battery capacity of the new iPhone Mini to the older -and smaller- model(s) that it would be replacing.

 

[ignatius345]

I feel this is needed anyway regardless of the mask thing. Face ID devices are hampered with the awful double-click-the-side-button-to-confirm UX which needs to go, and could easily be replace with a better 2-factor than that...simply touch the side button.

Agree. FaceID is the one thing that would make me hesitate to go from my iPhone 8 to this new 11 Mini. Been using Touch ID for many years now and am quite used to unlocking my phone regardless of orientation, lighting, or whether I’m even looking in its general direction. And the unfortunate fact that we’ll all be wearing masks into next year just reinforces this.

 

[anthogag]

The 12 Max Pro appears it will be fully loaded baby!

Will the 12 Pro Max get the nano-tech screen treatment to reduce glare?

Will it be lighter compared to the current 11 Pro Max?

 

[Dkka1]

Giving up on a Lidar sensor? Oh c'mon! It's a frickin gimmick, I never used it on my iPad 2020, like the measure app is so bad even with a LIDAR sensor that I don't use it.

Also, 2020 iPhones won't have a 120 Hz refresh rate. I couldn't care less about faster 5G. By the time 5G will be present in my area we will have the iPhone 20.

Battery life is the only thing why it's worth buying a 12 over the mini and that's it.

tl;dr: the selling point for most will be the price tag.

However, where I live 5G sub 6ghz is already present, and an unlimited data plan is 17,98€ per month without device rental, only SIM.

So, to each his own. 5G is paramount for me. I'm gonna cut the optical fiber at home as soon as I get that speed for 4k streaming. All my telecom needs for 18 Euros per month, and I'm guessing the devaluation of this device will average around 10-12€ per month during the first year if bought on sale, 30€ month that is.

 

[Lazlow]

I don't care what they remove, as long as I can finally have a phone that I can use comfortably with one hand again. I've been on an iPhone 8 for a year and a half now and hate this clunky piece of crap. I miss my original SE dearly.

 

[beginnersview]

Following up, here are the battery capacities I have in my chart of the past "smaller" models.
So the anticipated new iPhone 12 Mini looks to have significantly more battery capacity than any of the older models that it is likely to be replacing. Which should (maybe) translate into longer performance time between chargings.

Model RAM Battery Music Vid Talk
----- --- ------- ----- --- -------
5 . . 1GB 1440mAh 40 hr 10h 8h
SE . .2GB 1624mAh
6 . . 1GB 1810mAh 50 hr 11h 14h
7 . . 2GB 1960mAh 40 hr 13h 14h
8 . . 2GB 1821mAh 40 hr 13h 14h
SE-2 .3GB 1821mAh 40 hr 13h 14h
12 Mini . 2227mAh - - - << NEW iPhone small model <<
----- --------------------------------------------

 

[rockosmodurnlif]

All acceptable losses.

 

[Dkka1]

I don't care what they remove, as long as I can finally have a phone that I can use comfortably with one hand again. I've been on an iPhone 8 for a year and a half now and hate this clunky piece of crap. I miss my original SE dearly.

I have been upgrading yearly since the iphone 5 or so, always buying the standard flagship size for the year. This week I happened to use a 5s again. The screen and home button felt terribly ancient, but the form factor is so, so enjoyable... it had me thinking.

Also, like others said, Face Id is terrible these days. A small phone with Touch Id would be fantastic.