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iPhone 13 mini iPhone 13 mini - how futureproof will it be?

R

RVM84

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 20, 2011
22
4
Hey folks. My iPhone SE2 is starting to really struggle in terms of both performance with iOS 16 and also battery life. I had hoped we would see some price drops for the iPhone 13 mini, but it looks like prices are stubbornly staying put. I'm also worried they will just straight up discontinue it...

Any thoughts on how long the iPhone 13 mini is likely to last me? Bearing in mind I don't need a crazy cutting edge phone, I more care about how long it'll run iOS without feeling sluggish.

Thanks!
 
This may be the last year Apple offers the 13 mini new but it will still likely continue to be offered by them refurbished for another two to three years.

As far as iOS, the 13 mini will probably continue to get updates for at least another four years and should be pretty good for most (three years?) of that time.
 
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RVM84 said:
I had hoped we would see some price drops for the iPhone 13 mini, but it looks like prices are stubbornly staying put.
Click to expand...
It dropped $100 when the 14s came out. If you want a used one, Gazelle has a bunch for sale cheaper than Apple.

As for how long it will last, you will be going from an A13 to an A15, so if you find your SE2 slow now, you will probably feel the same about the mini in two more years (aka two more chip revisions). The mini does have 4 GB RAM vs 3 GB for the SE2, so maybe three years until you feel it is just too old to do what you need. Though I would recommend a new battery after two years.
 
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I do feel like there's some kind of hard wall that Apple chips will hit eventually. Not exactly now, but M1s can handle just about anything you need them to with minimal strain, so as soon as they come to the iPhones, the concept of "having an outdated device" will feel less like a limit and more like a fact.
 
RVM84 said:
Hey folks. My iPhone SE2 is starting to really struggle in terms of both performance with iOS 16 and also battery life. I had hoped we would see some price drops for the iPhone 13 mini, but it looks like prices are stubbornly staying put. I'm also worried they will just straight up discontinue it...

Any thoughts on how long the iPhone 13 mini is likely to last me? Bearing in mind I don't need a crazy cutting edge phone, I more care about how long it'll run iOS without feeling sluggish.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Hi RVM84, the good news is that the A15 Bionic in the 13 Mini is also powering the iPhone 14’s lower tier. That probably gives a new 13 Mini close to 6 years from launch, or 4 to 5 years from now, if you choose to keep it that long. 😊
 
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JPack said:
I would expect another about 3-4 years of satisfying performance out of the mini.
Click to expand...

I totally expect to have my Mini ~4 yrs, as I had my XR. Which I probably could’ve had 2 more yrs if I'd wanted. But I wanted the Mini and traded it in for totally ok money.
In 4 yrs there’s another small phone I hope, we’ll see then. I'm very happy with my Mini now ♥️
See what Apple of 2026-2028 have to offer?
 
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RVM84 said:
Hey folks. My iPhone SE2 is starting to really struggle in terms of both performance with iOS 16 and also battery life. I had hoped we would see some price drops for the iPhone 13 mini, but it looks like prices are stubbornly staying put. I'm also worried they will just straight up discontinue it...

Any thoughts on how long the iPhone 13 mini is likely to last me? Bearing in mind I don't need a crazy cutting edge phone, I more care about how long it'll run iOS without feeling sluggish.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
I have had the iPhone 13 mini since October and it is a wonderful phone - gifted to me (replacing my iPone SE). When asked, I highly recommend it to all new iPhone buyers. I agree with the assessment that it should get regular updates for 3 - 4 years. Just the perfect blend of size and performance. As a long time iPhone user, the 13 mini is the 1st iPhone that i have recommended to others - going back to my all-time favorite - the iPhone 4C.
 
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The iPhone 13 Mini is the fourth iPhone I have owned, and my favorite one so far. Until this device, which I bought on the original 2021 launch date, I have upgraded iPhones on a 3 year cycle. I plan to use this phone for a total of 4-5 years if possible, as I don't want to give up this small form factor until I am absolutely forced to. Also, since the regular iPhone 14's have the same processor, I would think that the 13 Mini would have an extra year of good performance then would had been the case earlier. BTW, after 1+years, this phone is as fast as it was the day I bought it, and after 14 months, it still has 96% battery health.
 
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The chipset powering the iPhone 13 mini is second best in show for the iPhone lineup. It's most likely going to be supported for at least the next half decade. You'd probably upgrade the device before it even shows signs of becoming obsolete.

I went from the iPhone 6S (A9 chipset) to the iPhone 13 Pro Max (A15 chipset)
The only thing I needed to do between that time was change the battery once.

Pretty much most modern phones are "future proof" as long as you exercise routine device care.
 
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Mark Stone said:
Thanks
Click to expand...
My 5 year old 8 Plus released September 12, 2017 was running iOS 16 just fine when I traded it in for my 13PM.

Compatible iPhones with iOS 16
Capture.JPG
 
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As others have mentioned, you can probably expect to get 3-4 years out of it without iOS starting to feel sluggish. I’ll add that you don’t have to update to the newest iOS version each year. I still have devices running on iOS/iPadOS 12 and 14 for various reasons. As long as the relevant apps still support the older OS version, it’s usually fine. You can probably get 5-7 years total out of the 13 mini that way.
 
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No idea how you’re finding the SE 2020 slow. I have an iPad Mini 5 which is running on iOS 16 with the same chipset and it’s as smooth as butter. You definitely have at least a year or two of good performance from the A12. My iPhone 12 Mini is blazing on iOS 16… super smooth, but I guess that’s expected with the A14. The 13 Mini should last 4-5 years if you purchase it today.
 
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I got about 4-5 years out of my iPhone 5, and the processors now are obviously so much faster than the one that was in that phone. So I'd say 4-5 years easily. But you'd almost certainly have to get a battery replacement at some point if you don't want to be tied to a charger. Still, that'd be far cheaper than a new phone. And frankly that'd be the only option if you wanted to keep a small phone.

I've asked myself this same question when it comes to my SE3 because I bought this phone almost exclusively for the size.

Also, to prevent iOS from feeling sluggish -- just don't update it. Seriously! I'm actually still rocking iOS 15.7. I reckon if I can stay about a year behind (meaning always update right before the next big numbered update -- 17, 18, etc.) then this phone's performance will stay faster for longer. It's those software updates that slow it down. The hardware itself isn't magically getting slower year over year.
 
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RoadWarrior56 said:
The iPhone 13 Mini is the fourth iPhone I have owned, and my favorite one so far. Until this device, which I bought on the original 2021 launch date, I have upgraded iPhones on a 3 year cycle. I plan to use this phone for a total of 4-5 years if possible, as I don't want to give up this small form factor until I am absolutely forced to. Also, since the regular iPhone 14's have the same processor, I would think that the 13 Mini would have an extra year of good performance then would had been the case earlier. BTW, after 1+years, this phone is as fast as it was the day I bought it, and after 14 months, it still has 96% battery health.
Click to expand...
Nice! Are you doing anything out of the ordinary (the 20-80% rule, slow charging, etc) to obtain that 96% battery health after 14 months?
 
v0lume4 said:
I got about 4-5 years out of my iPhone 5, and the processors now are obviously so much faster than the one that was in that phone. So I'd say 4-5 years easily. But you'd almost certainly have to get a battery replacement at some point if you don't want to be tied to a charger. Still, that'd be far cheaper than a new phone. And frankly that'd be the only option if you wanted to keep a small phone.

I've asked myself this same question when it comes to my SE3 because I bought this phone almost exclusively for the size.

Also, to prevent iOS from feeling sluggish -- just don't update it. Seriously! I'm actually still rocking iOS 15.7. I reckon if I can stay about a year behind (meaning always update right before the next big numbered update -- 17, 18, etc.) then this phone's performance will stay faster for longer. It's those software updates that slow it down. The hardware itself isn't magically getting slower year over year.
Click to expand...
I don’t believe that not updating your iOS is really relevant these days. It was definitely true in the 4/4S/5/5S era however even the 6S/SE runs extremely well on iOS 15 which is the final update for those phones. I updated my 8 to iOS 16 just to see how it would perform and it is no slower than iOS 14 which is what it was previously on. iOS 16 is likely the final update for 8 also.
 
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Andeddu said:
I don’t believe that not updating your iOS is really relevant these days. It was definitely true in the 4/4S/5/5S era however even the 6S/SE runs extremely well on iOS 15 which is the final update for those phones. I updated my 8 to iOS 16 just to see how it would perform and it is no slower than iOS 14 which is what it was previously on. iOS 16 is likely the final update for 8 also.
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I think it's better than it used to be. I will never ever forget what iOS 7 did to my iPad 2. That was completely inexcusable and nobody should have checked off on that internally. If you know, you know. 😆

My mother has an iPhone 7 Plus on iOS 15.x, and it's noticeably slower than my iPhone SE (2022). It's not slow. It's just slower. I don't think that phone was that slow when it shipped. There's just no way that it was.

So, yeah. It's not as bad as it used to be. But I do believe it still is a factor.


Oh, something else to add on this same topic. This is turning into more of a rant. macOS updates turned my Macbook Pro into a paperweight. I mean the thing would literally just freeze requiring a hard power down on a continuing basis after I updated it to 10.12 or 10.13 (I can't remember). It's only because of me upgrading to an SSD and upgrading the RAM that the thing was able to be revived (try upgrading the parts now, ha). But I digress. If I sounds salty it's because I am. :p
 
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v0lume4 said:
I think it's better than it used to be. I will never ever forget what iOS 7 did to my iPad 2. That was completely inexcusable and nobody should have checked off on that internally. If you know, you know. 😆

My mother has an iPhone 7 Plus on iOS 15.x, and it's noticeably slower than my iPhone SE (2022). It's not slow. It's just slower. I don't think that phone was that slow when it shipped. There's just no way that it was.

So, yeah. It's not as bad as it used to be. But I do believe it still is a factor.


Oh, something else to add on this same topic. This is turning into more of a rant. macOS updates turned my Macbook Pro into a paperweight. I mean the thing would literally just freeze requiring a hard power down on a continuing basis after I updated it to 10.12 or 10.13 (I can't remember). It's only because of me upgrading to an SSD and upgrading the RAM that the thing was able to be revived (try upgrading the parts now, ha). But I digress. If I sounds salty it's because I am. :p
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Yeah, I am definitely not saying there is no performance hit when you update to a newer iOS version. The 6S/SE was lightning fast back in 2015/16 with iOS 9 whereas they are merely serviceable on iOS 15.

Of course you’re going to see a difference between the 7 and the SE3… the gulf between the A10 and A15 is frankly ridiculous. The 7, like you said, does run iOS 15 fairly well though and could still be someone’s main phone in 2023.

If the 12 or 13 Mini is usable as a daily driver in 2027/28, I’ll be happy. I will likely have moved on by 2025 though. I have decided to keep my phones for 5 years now which I believe is the sweet spot between quality of life and being financially sound.
 
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