iPhone 12 Mini Production Reportedly Ended Earlier Than Expected Due to Relatively Low Sales

[Lemon Olive]

The phone many cried out for but nobody bought

Which is why you don't make products based on internet whiners.

The people who would reliably show up to fawn over a small iPhone would forget to mention, "Oh but I won't actually buy it unless it has all of the same features as the Pro Max and it is only $300"

 

[desslr]

I got rid of mine and went to Pro Max after 7 months. The battery life was beyond ridiculous and I was having ongoing issues with the screen that Apple wouldn’t take responsibility.

 

[Shreducator]

I remember when Samsung had the bigger phones first and all of us iPhone users put our heads in the sand. Turns out most people prefer bigger screens. To placate mini users to each your own I’m sure you’ll be bummed with no mini moving forward. The market has spoken.

 

[unsynaps]

I dumped my 11 pro for a 12 mini and I could not be happier. Not to mention cheaper monthly payments I really didnt need the size and storage.

Really going to suck having to go back to some stupidly huge hunk of a phone when it comes time to upgrade.

 

[cliffster82]

Ticks me off. I absolutely love my 12 mini compared to the 6.1" phones. So much easier to hold and handle and I feel confident going without a case. It's also very durable like the other iPhone 12 line. Frustrating we won't get to stay in the upgrade cycle as I'm going to have to stick with the mini as long as I can. It's just too good to give up.

 

[baryon]

Best iPhone ever, in my view, just about 200% more expensive for something that could be gone at the drop of a phone.

 

[Jakewilk]

They did not. Unless they overpriced the iPhone 12 as well. They are basically the same device apart from size.

Nmvls didn’t want a small phone, he wanted a cheap phone and thought less mass meant less money

 

[Wormald]

I would have bought one in a snap if they had not released the SE 2 a few months earlier, which I bought as I got the signal that they were giving up on smaller iPhones. If they had released the Mini first, they would have had a happy customer.

 

[slythfox]

It is hundreds of dollars too expensive and for the price lacks a telephoto lens. Apple dragged their feet for too long with a small phone replacement to the 1st gen iPhone SE. I think they didn't want it to succeed but felt they had to release something.

 

[Analog Kid]

The phone many cried out for but nobody bought

You’ve got pretty wide error bars around “nobody”. The last numbers I’ve seen suggest it outsold all but one Samsung model.

 

[coachgq]

The phone many cried out for but nobody bought

Hard to say "nobody" bought. That's a stretch. I know multiple people that own one. It was just too much of a compromise for most at only $100 less.

 

[sharksftw]

I love my mini. Not too big, not too small. Price is okay too, since it has all the features the iPhone 12 has.
battery is the same as my previous iPhone XS, so I can’t complain.
Im really happy with my mini, so much so that I would buy the 13 mini and stay on it for 6 or 7 years, maybe even longer if there’s not another small iPhone by then

 

[RiddlaBronc]

Love my Mini and will keep it for a long time.
Also, battery is great for what it is. Unless you live somewhere without an electrical grid then battery should not be an issue. Not long ago, the same folks complaining where rocking pre Plus Iphones and where happy with battery life.

 

[iZac]

I love my mini and the square edges, but what's sad is I picked up my SE1 the other day and it felt so much better in hand.

I'll be getting a 12S / 13 mini on launch.

 

[nvmls]

Nmvls didn’t want a small phone, he wanted a cheap phone and thought less mass meant less money

Battery performance of a 2-year old xioami phone, you and many others will buy proudly. Enjoy.

 

[Mimiron]

The regular 12 has a perfect size and screen-to-body ratio. Mini battery life sucks very much.

 

[reyesmac]

How about not calling things you don't really care about selling "Mini" to begin with? Apple doesnt have a great track record updating and giving the best features to the products that end with mini. When the mini's tend to sell more and take away sales from more expensive products, they raise the price on them or do not update them to encourage sales of more expensive products. They should get out of the mini business if they are just using it as a way to have a low retail starting price they can announce to everyone with no real desire of having that product take away sales from the ones they really want you to buy. Why didnt this mini sell well? It had less features than its more expensive brother. If the mini was a smaller carbon copy of the flagship in every way, it would have sold more units. And Apple would have made less money than they can playing bait and switch. People catch on after a while. Thats why on the mac front the current mac mini is doing great, because they accidentally made a product with a good price and great value. Apple will remedy this by offering a much more expensive Mac mini this year that will have less bang for the buck than its cousin. If Apple made the flagship iphone mini an even lower price, the bang for the buck would drive up sales but would take away sales from the top one. If Apple is going to be taking away features to differentiate the flagship product, lower sales is what they get.

 

[anthogag]

Maybe it should be smaller. A real mini iPhone. Half its current "mini" size.

 

[sharksftw]

Maybe it should be smaller. A real mini iPhone. Half its current "mini" size.

Like what? The size of the original iPhone?

 

[MacsRgr8]

The phone many cried out for but nobody bought

Well, I bought the 256 GB one.
I had the 8, the SE 2 and the 12 mini. I was waiting for the 12 mini. Yes, pricey... but love it!

I really hope the "mini-form factor" won't die here....

 

[Freida]

It wasn't timed well. I wanted small screen too as I was upgrading from iPhone 6 but Apple released SE 2020 and it was the perfect upgrade for me so I got it. No way I was going to get the mini few months later.
However, if there was no SE 2020 I would be on the mini now.

I'm sure those that wanted small device did pretty much the same. Maybe 13 Mini I might consider it but I don't like upgrading so early so most likely I won't. Shame as the mini is truly amazing device

Well, it turns out the masses do not want a smaller-screen iPhone. Oh wait, someone will (or has already) said they would have sold more if they were cheaper which ignores two simple facts: A) people are consistently choosing larger screens and paying more money for them; B) Apple has never chased the low end of the market, always protecting their margins. Like it or not, B) has proven to work for Apple as a corporation.

But sure, Apple is doomed, I am an Apple Sheeple (since 1982), and blah, blah, blah.

 

[goodcow]

They did not. Unless they overpriced the iPhone 12 as well. They are basically the same device apart from size.

The 2016 SE was essentially a smaller 6S, but the 2016 SE was $399, while the 6S was $649.

They absolutely overpriced the 12 mini.

Or maybe they underpriced 2016 SE.

Either way, the 12 mini costs a lot of money, and the unlocked version is an extra $30 just because why?

 

[anthogag]

Like what? The size of the original iPhone?

Was the original iPhone that small?

 

[hagjohn]

People bought the SE thinking it was the only small phone coming out.

 

[sharksftw]

Was the original iPhone that small?

I don’t know. It’s comically small now, more like a nano iPhone, not even mini. I don’t think People want a smaller mini. Because you want a somewhat usable screen size.