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iPhone 12 iPhone 12 mini users, what's the appeal of having a smaller screen?

N

NaughtyNoot

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 21, 2020
20
15
Following all the excitement over this smaller iPhone, I've had the chance to briefly try out a 12 mini this week.
While I liked the design of the smaller phone, I feel like I don't really understand its advantages over something like the regular 12.
People often seem to mention one of the following things:

- portability/pocketability: As a man who's not really into skinny clothing, even my iPhone 7+ has never given me any issues fitting into my pockets. I get that there is a specific group of people (especially women, for whom pockets are usually more shallow) that need to care about this, but I don't see how it would be a deciding factor for the majority of people.

- usability/one-handed usage: During my brief testing with the mini, even with the smaller screen I wasn't able to reach the entire screen with my thumb (unlike my old iPhone 5), and had to resort to using reachability to comfortably reach the upper left UI elements. I have average-sized hands (I think), so I'm again assuming this will be the case for many people. If you are going to have to use two hands anyway, why not go for the screen that's more comfortable to use that way?

- one-handed typing: this obviously works as the keyboard is in the lower half of the screen, but it seems that (for me at least) this is much slower than just typing with two hands (which in turn is harder on a smaller screen).

So, is it just a cosmetic thing (I will agree that it looks much nicer than the larger iPhones!), or is there something else I'm missing here (because I was only able to try it out for a short time)? The reason I'm asking is because I want to upgrade my iPhone 7+, and the mini appealed to me because I don't really need a larger screen anymore (I do most of the reading/watching on my iPad mini these days), but I'm not seeing any real advantages of actually not having a larger screen (whereas a smaller screen also comes with a smaller battery, and a slightly worse experience when typing with two hands ...).

Please enlighten me :)
 
Doesn't work for everyone.

I had an XS before this Mini and every time I'd pick it up I'd be like, this is too tall. What is the purpose of this...and the weight was just slightly too much to be texting all day on it.

The mini is the perfect weight/size for ease of use for my purposes.

Sounds like to me the 12 would be perfect for you.
 
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It’s the weight and width for me.

Weight is important to me because the longer you hold these phones the more uncomfortable they start to become. I had an 11 Pro and it was heavy when I would use it in bed or just used it for longer periods of time. Weight can be deceiving especially when you go into a store and you pick up the 12 Pro Max, for example, and it feels manageable. But once you get that sucker home and it’s just you and it’s quiet and you have that big ass phone in your hand you realize that it’s too much. At least that was my experience.

The weight also helps me with reachability. It’s easier to shuffle the phone around in my hands with a lighter phone than with a heavier phone.

The width is also important because the back swipe, which I’m constantly doing, still requires my thumb to reach all the way to the left side of the screen. I do wish that Apple would do what Google did on Android and have the ability to swipe both sides of the screen to trigger a back swipe.
 
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Each iPhone is going to work better for different people. There is no one size fits all.

Some people are light users and occasionally check texts or emails or actually use it as a phone. They don't want or need anything bigger or heavier than the Mini.

Others live on their device and use it for everything all the time and prefer the larger screen at the trade-off of carrying a larger heavier device.

There is no right or wrong. It's just personal preference.
 
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It finally feels like a phone again. Not a small tablet. Not a slab. But a phone that I can easily slip in and out of every pocket and use one handed.

If your phone is your primary device, it may be too small for you. But I have an iPad for media and games, and a MacBook for productivity. That means I need my phone to be as portable as possible. The mini checks all those boxes.
 
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I love the mini form factor, but as a photographer, I always want the best camera, so it’s the Max. If the cameras were the same across all models, I’d probably have the mini. I’m a big guy too, but I love the ease and one handed use of the mini. The Max feels quite heavy, especially with a case and one handed use is impossible. Ah well.
 
ericg301 said:
If your phone is your primary device, it may be too small for you. But I have an iPad for media and games, and a MacBook for productivity. That means I need my phone to be as portable as possible. The mini checks all those boxes.
Click to expand...
Well, I basically have the same setup, and don't have any need for a large screen on my phone (other than perhaps the improved battery life and the convenience for two-handed typing that come with it). Absolutely not interested in reading books, playing lots of games, watching movies, ... on it. That's what initially pulled me towards the 12 mini.

Thing is, having only tried the 12 mini, I wonder how much "worse" a regular 12 would feel in comparison. If there were a noticeable difference in day-to-day usability and comfort, I would definitely go for the 12 mini! It's just that, at this point, I'm not entirely convinced that the smaller size has such benefits, given that I seemingly wasn't able to use it entirely with one hand. As someone else already commented, the larger-than-needed screen may become a nuisance after longer usage though.

Ah, decisions ...!
 
NaughtyNoot said:
Well, I basically have the same setup, and don't have any need for a large screen on my phone (other than perhaps the improved battery life and the convenience for two-handed typing that come with it). Absolutely not interested in reading books, playing lots of games, watching movies, ... on it. That's what initially pulled me towards the 12 mini.

Thing is, having only tried the 12 mini, I wonder how much "worse" a regular 12 would feel in comparison. If there were a noticeable difference in day-to-day usability and comfort, I would definitely go for the 12 mini! It's just that, at this point, I'm not entirely convinced that the smaller size has such benefits, given that I seemingly wasn't able to use it entirely with one hand. As someone else already commented, the larger-than-needed screen may become a nuisance after longer usage though.

Ah, decisions ...!
Click to expand...
Why are you looking for so many benefits, when you just said you have the same setup as the member you responded to? You are making this harder than it needs to be. Either you use your phone a lot, or you don’t. If your Screen on Time is more than 6 hours a day, you may want to look at a different phone. If your usage is much less, the mini may be fine for you.
 
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Lighter, better fit in pocket, one hand operation.
27" monitor looks good on my desk but it doesn't fit in my pocket.
A truck is good for shopping at Home Depot but it is not convenient for street parking and poor on fuel mileage.
It's pros vs cons. You have to make choices.
Mini buyers are giving up large screen for many other advantages While non mini buyers are giving up all the advantages for bigger screen and longer lasting battery.
 
Personally I prefer maneuverability to size when it comes to phones. The mini has all the specs of the 12, excellent cameras, and is cheaper so it's a win-win all the way. Plus, I don't think the mini screen is too small, it's only .4" smaller than the 6/7/8+. Most people are just used to huge phones nowadays, but 5 years ago the mini's screen would've been considered large.

Another perk of the mini is that it's harder for a thief to snatch off your hands - and if it does happen you have less to lose.

For media consumption, photo editing, or work I'd rather use my 12.9" iPad or my 15" MBP anyways. I only go large for stuffs that wouldn't go in my pockets.
 
Last edited:
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NaughtyNoot said:
- usability/one-handed usage: During my brief testing with the mini, even with the smaller screen I wasn't able to reach the entire screen with my thumb (unlike my old iPhone 5), and had to resort to using reachability to comfortably reach the upper left UI elements. I have average-sized hands (I think), so I'm again assuming this will be the case for many people.
Click to expand...
Small screen? Nope, significant upgrade in size from my 6S.

Yes, now with taller screen, there are some issues using one handed. Not sure if this applies to earlier models, but the 12 has a back tap shortcut. So I set up a double tap for the reachability feature (very similar in nature to the double tap of home button on the 6S).

Control panel (which I use a lot) is still awkward for use with left hand even after a double tap with the change to top down swipe from bottom up swipe on the 6S. So I set up triple back tap for control center. Which can be brought down even further with a double tap. That solves all my primary issues.

Yup, still not good as the 4 or 5 but good enough and about double the screen area of those phones. I'd be very happy to go back to those form factors with a similar almost no bezel screen and modern iOS and internals. Seems like the taller screen and form factor is primarily advantageous for watching videos to me (and still no comparison to my laptop). But this is the best solution in the last five years and probably for the next five years (other than incremental improvement in the same form factor).
 
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Funny your argument against the mini is that it’s not more portable/pocketable (that’s fair) and not easier to use (highly disagree), while I feel like larger phones aren’t more usable. Unless you have bad eyes, what benefit does a larger screen provide?

I wasn’t any more productive on my iPhone 11 Pro than I am on my mini. Things displayed on the screen were just slightly larger, but the phone was much harder to use one-handed. Sure, I use my phone with two hands most of the time, but there are still plenty of times where I have something in one hand and can’t do that.

Large screens on phones provide no additional benefit for me, because even the largest phones can’t replace my iPad.
 
So, I've decided to order the 12 mini, since I'm a "light" user who has no real benefit from a larger screen, and, based on what I've read here, I suspect that the smaller form factor will indeed be more likeable in real-world usage.

Thanks for all your input!
 
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The only thing in the upper left of the screen I really need is Notification Center, which isn’t that frequent anyway. Everything else can be reached with one hand with the mini.
 
I’m far from a “light” user. I use my iPhone for playing games, watching videos, reading books, you name it. And for several hours a day too. And I still think the mini is the perfect phone for me 🤷‍♂️
 
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vipergts2207 said:
The only thing in the upper left of the screen I really need is Notification Center, which isn’t that frequent anyway. Everything else can be reached with one hand with the mini.
Click to expand...

The notification centre can be pulled down from anywhere along the top before the right ear if you can understand what I mean.

With that being the case it is easy to pull down with one hand.
 
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MarkX said:
The notification centre can be pulled down from anywhere along the top before the right ear if you can understand what I mean.

With that being the case it is easy to pull down with one hand.
Click to expand...
Oh wow, I’m new to the X-style phones and did not realize this. Thank you for the tip!
 
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I've always used the smallest phone available. I tried the larger ones and personally they are simply too much for one handed operation and trying to hang on to it (top heavy) while texting. I tried a 7+ and quickly moved to a 7. I'm moving from an SE 2nd gen. to the 12 mini because it's physically slightly smaller and the screen is bigger, so I get two benefits from it. I don't like a phone to stick out the top of my shirt pocket where I carry them. The larger screen (in a larger phone) has no benefit for me, and most of my use is reading, photos, videos, and YouTube. Having a screen an inch bigger in a larger form factor does not enhance the experience for me. But to each their own, the wife likes the bigger screens. If I haven't looked at her phone in awhile, I'm still impressed (and sometimes jealous) by the big, gorgeous screen. But a large phone physically is a deal breaker.

tl;dr
The phone's physical size is more important to me than the screen size. I like that the 12 mini maximizes the screen size in a smaller format.
 
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