iPhone 12 mini iPhone 12 mini will sell better w/o 5G, cheaper and longer battery life?

[TechLord]

I will add however, that I don't think the $100 price gap is enough of a reason to explain the poor sales. The pro and pro max also have a $100 price gap, and the pro max has actual added camera features over the pro where as the 12 and 12 mini are identical in that regard. Yet the pro still holds its own sales wise, and has huge waiting times to this day in my area.

 

[DexBell]

No way were apple going to sell a current flagship model with OLED, 5G, dual camera, new design, magsafe, for 599. OF COURSE if you undercut price wise as much as possible while giving great features, you can make up in sales. But such a premise is laughably unrealistic. To get to the 599 price tag for the mini you would need to cut some of its "premium" features, and if you want to keep the premium features you need a premium price tag.

I agree that the mini was overpriced, but to cut that cost you'd need to cut features like OLED which imo weren't really necessary for the mini.

Please, Apple gets things like OLED panels for pennies on the dollar. They are a $2 TRILLION company who orders parts for their iPhones by the tens of million. Having said that, Apple has never been a company to price their products competitively or put out products that are great deals at their price point. They also marketed the Mini poorly. Even the Mini name implies its inferior. They should have called the Mini the iPhone 12, called the 6.1 model the iPhone Plus and the 6.7 model the Max.

 

[TechLord]

Please, Apple gets things like OLED panels for pennies on the dollar. They are a $2 TRILLION company who orders parts for their iPhones by the tens of million. Having said that, Apple has never been a company to price their products competitively or put out products that are great deals at their price point. They also marketed the Mini poorly. Even the Mini name implies its inferior. They should have called the Mini the iPhone 12, called the 6.1 model the iPhone Plus and the 6.7 model the Max.

Apple aren't going to take a new risky form factor, which is obviously not very popular among the masses , and name it their default iPhone. Do you not think they have access to greater market research than any of us? They don't just plan production numbers and name their phones based on nothing. Leakers were saying early on apple expected the mini to be their lowest selling model, it just did even worse than they anticipated. Furthermore, there's nothing "plus" about the 6.1 inch model, most android flagships are nearing 7 inches at this point, 6.1 inches is practically a compact phone in 2021. Only the google pixel 5 comes close at 6 inches.

The mini name is well deserved, its smaller than the iPhone 6. And dimension size/weight matters much more than screen size, hence why the old plus models were phablets but the 6.1 inch models aren't.

 

[supertiffany]

I have an SE 2020 and a Mini. The Mini display is considerably larger when you place them next to each other, and ito a physical smaller device. Awesome iPhone.

which of the two has better battery life?

is either of the two have battery life that can last you at least 5 hours SOT?

 

[supertiffany]

No way were apple going to sell a current flagship model with OLED, 5G, dual camera, new design, magsafe, for 599. OF COURSE if you undercut price wise as much as possible while giving great features, you can make up in sales. But such a premise is laughably unrealistic. To get to the 599 price tag for the mini you would need to cut some of its "premium" features, and if you want to keep the premium features you need a premium price tag.

I agree that the mini was overpriced, but to cut that cost you'd need to cut features like OLED which imo weren't really necessary for the mini.

it's not OLED that can price cut 12 mini the biggest


it's 5G


without 5G it can at least reduce the price to 80-100USD


making this iPhone 12 mini at $549.


(doubt that iphone 12 mini users would want 5G over bigger price tag and of course longer battery life)

 

[DexBell]

which of the two has better battery life?

is either of the two have battery life that can last you at least 5 hours SOT?

The Mini has better battery life by about an hour or so. Few days ago I had 5hrs 14min SOT with 11% battery left before I charged it that night. I’m not a power user though. No movies or videos, no gaming...I have an iPad and iMac for that. I do calls, texts, emails, social media and light web browsing with maybe some photos thrown in here and there some days.

 

[supertiffany]

The Mini has better battery life by about an hour or so. Few days ago I had 5hrs 14min SOT with 11% battery left before I charged it that night. I’m not a power user though. No movies or videos, no gaming...I have an iPad and iMac for that. I do calls, texts, emails, social media and light web browsing with maybe some photos thrown in here and there some days.

is turning the 5G off down to 4G will increase battery life?

 

[JPack]

it's not OLED that can price cut 12 mini the biggest


it's 5G


without 5G it can at least reduce the price to 80-100USD


making this iPhone 12 mini at $549.


(doubt that iphone 12 mini users would want 5G over bigger price tag and of course longer battery life)

Your math unfortunately doesn't work.

5G component costs in iPhone 12 are estimated to be an increase of $34. With the 2.5X markup that Apple often charges, you're looking at $85 max.

Removing 5G from iPhone 12 mini won't bring it close to $599, much less $549.

Think of it this way: iPhone 11 sold for $699. Apple added 5G, OLED, A14 and increased the price to $829. There is no way 5G alone added $100 or $150 to the price tag.

@TechLord is correct. You would need to delete important features: OLED and 5G to reduce the price by $100. End result? A tiny 5.4" iPhone 11 mini that consumers still don't want.

 

[snipr125]

is turning the 5G off down to 4G will increase battery life?

Yes, i turned 5G off to 4G only and this has saved battery life no doubt.

In terms of removing premium features on the 12 mini to lower the price, then in my opinion, 5G and Face ID can go (Put touch id on the power button). Everything else has to stay though (Flat edge design, OLED screen, A14 Chip, Ceramic shield and camera set up). Removing 5G and Face ID, would warrant a £599 price point, creating a £200 gap to the Iphone 12.

 

[eatrains]

And 10 years ago, a 4" display was huge. Consumer preferences change.

Due to the form factor, the 5.4" iPhone 12 mini has only a 15% larger display area compared to 4.7" iPhone SE.

In other words, it's tiny for a smartphone launched in 2020.

But hand sizes haven't changed. And because of the form factor, the mini is even more unwieldy than the 4.7" SE.

 

[xxray]

Do you really think anyone besides maybe 10 people on this forum think to themselves, "dang, I would buy the mini if only it didn't have 5G?"

 

[C. Robert]

The mini is fine as is. The biggest issue is that its hard for people that are use to bigger screens to go back.

 

[DexBell]

Do you really think anyone besides maybe 10 people on this forum think to themselves, "dang, I would buy the mini if only it didn't have 5G?"

If it brought the price down to $599, a TON of people would be saying that

 

[DexBell]

The mini is fine as is. The biggest issue is that its hard for people that are use to bigger screens to go back.

I went from every Plus/Max sized iPhone to the Mini and love it. My favorite iPhone yet. But I bought them mostly for the cameras. I own an iPad, iMac and Xbox, I have zero interest in watching movies or gaming on a phone.

 

[ray6088]

I never like people who is not on the market for smaller phone and complain the mini. Apple gives us three sizes and choose the size to fit you. HATE the trim down feature on the small phone! If people want to shop for less, they can buy last year model or Android phones.

 

[Phone Junky]

The diagonal length of the mini is misleading. Due to its aspect ratio, the mini is quite a bit smaller than the 5.5 inch plus models, and barely larger than the 4.7 inch models. 5.4 vs 4.7 makes it sound like a massive jump but it isn't really.

Smaller? Yes. Quite a bit smaller? No.

 

[JPack]

But hand sizes haven't changed. And because of the form factor, the mini is even more unwieldy than the 4.7" SE.

Hand sizes don't need to change. Look at how people are using smartphones today. By using both hands.

 

[JPack]

Smaller? Yes. Quite a bit smaller? No.

View attachment 1728703

Quite a bit smaller.


Display width

• iPhone SE2 = 2.30"
• iPhone 12 mini = 2.27"
• iPhone 8 Plus = 2.69"

The mini has a display that's narrower than 4.7" SE2. Anyone who uses the keyboard will immediately notice.

 

[bbednarz]

I think the mini would be the perfect phone to update once every 2-3 years. I just think people don't want the 'mini' device, they view it as lesser because of that. A 5.4" screen really isn't that small if you have good eyes and typing on it is awesome. So some will see it as a compromise device while I see it as a perfect device. Would be nice if it had that 3rd camera, but oh well.

 

[DexBell]

Quite a bit smaller.


Display width

• iPhone SE2 = 2.30"
• iPhone 12 mini = 2.27"
• iPhone 8 Plus = 2.69"

The mini has a display that's narrower than 4.7" SE2. Anyone who uses the keyboard will immediately notice.

I have both the SE 2020 and the Mini. The slightly more narrow width of the Mini is insignificant. No one would ever notice unless you own both as I do and use one and immediately pick up the other. Its not an issue.

 

[JPack]

I have both the SE 2020 and the Mini. The slightly more narrow width of the Mini is insignificant. No one would ever notice unless you own both as I do and use one and immediately pick up the other. Its not an issue.

Certainly, the 4.7" and 5.4" models are nearly identical in width. But compared to a 5.5" Plus, it's massive.

 

[bubulol]

do you think iPhone 12 mini will sell better w/o 5G?

1. making it cheaper
2. longer battery life

those two things will really drive the sales up, i dont think those who will buy the mini will prefer having 5g over longer battery life

Being cheaper is always nice for customers lol
Longer battery life? Not necessarily, 12 Mini has good battery life for normal user for normal usage
For me, people are convinced its too small because their habit of using giant phones
Asia leads entire market to produce more giant phones, Apple and the others tend to upgrade size phone year after year
In my opinion, Apple made a mistake

• Mini as name is ridiculous, its not a mini, it has a respectable size screen display (5'4), it should be called something like ''compact'' (like Sony Xperia Compact)
• Mini is too negative for many people
• iPhone 12 series, 2 two identical size, not enough difference between 12 and 12 Pro (even with Pro Max which doesnt deliver camera quality expectations), in my opinion, they should delete one of them (12 or 12 Pro). iPhone 12 5'4, iPhone 12 Pro 6'1, iPhone 12 Pro Max 6'7

 

[Taz Mangus]

Want better battery life on the iPhone 12 Mini, in the cellular settings force LTE only.

 

[TechLord]

Smaller? Yes. Quite a bit smaller? No.

Wrong. The 8 plus has an even greater usable surface area than the 5.8 inch models. 12.96 sq inches vs 12.7, and that surface area for the 5.8 inch models goes down to 10.93 sq inches when watching videos in a standardized video format. The mini is 10.8 inches, not much larger than the 4.7 inch phones at 9.63 sq inches. A big difference considering "only" a .1 difference in diagonal height.

 

[ian87w]

do you think iPhone 12 mini will sell better w/o 5G?

1. making it cheaper
2. longer battery life

those two things will really drive the sales up, i dont think those who will buy the mini will prefer having 5g over longer battery life

Apple will not make it cheaper. If you want cheaper, Apple wants you to buy the iPhone 11 or XR.
And for Apple, the mini served its purpose well, increasing Apple’s overall ASP with people ending up spending $100 more for the iPhone 12.