iPhone 13 Mini Still Expected Despite Lackluster iPhone 12 Mini Sales

[jadot]

That’s where the thickness issue comes in. Apple’s obsession with thinness has resulted in the mini having a smaller battery than is absolutely necessary. Contrary to what you say, its the weakness of this device and if people complain, that’s the main thing I see people complain about. Otherwise it’s very liked by those who own it.

And that’s really the only weakness on this device. But it is their own fault.

To be fair they are not the only ones who keep making this mistake. I had the Galaxy Alpha a few years ago and that was a similar concept: OLED screen, mini-“flagship” concept. But Samsung also skimped on the battery size there because they made it just a bit too thin.

Let’s wait and see if they have learned any lessons with 13 Mini.

NO - I don't buy it. The people who complain about battery life on a small device are wanting and expecting something impossible and then having some kind of entitled rant about being let down by Apple's conspiracy against them.

Let me put this straight : There is nothing wrong with the battery life on the iPhone 12 mini. The worst thing that can happen is that the battery runs out and will need to be re-charged. Since owning the Mini personally, this hasn't happened. When it does, I will plug it in to the wall/power bank and re-charge it.

When I owned the iPhone 11 it very occasionally ran out of battery. What I did to get past this heinous problem was to re-charge it to give me enough juice until bedtime. I would use one of the power banks that I carry with me every time I knew I was going to be shooting (I'm a photographer) for a whole day.When my laptop runs out, I plug it in to the wall. It works every time.

In fact, I'm using my phone even less maybe because it's a Mini, and with that the battery life seems identical to my old iPhone 11 in every day use, which is more than enough. In this sense the smaller battery is required and contributed to the overall strength of the smaller iPhone - very far from being a weakness, it actually enables a more productive approach for me using my devices.

The people who use a Max, or a pro or basically a larger phone all day for all tasks and glued to social media and watching Netflix shouldn't probably be buying a Mini and then complaining about it's battery life. (Which is good, as I've said).

The point refusal to acknowledge that the Mini is relevant seems to mainly be from people who prefer larger (moving into tablet territory) iPhones or can't face to 'downgrade' or 'coping' with a smaller display. One person here even said they'd be 'embarrassed' to own something called a Mini.

It's perhaps got more to do with 'bigger is better' and size matters than people are willing to admit to. It's like the M1 MacBook Pro vs the M1 MacBook Air. The Pro is better, right? And it's not pink! I could almost guarantee that if the Mini was called an iPhone 12 ProMini - nothing else different - that the perception would be somewhat different, but as with al lot of Apple (and others) products, history tells us that your not perceived as Pro, if you don't buy something that says Pro in it's name.

Some people just can't handle this.

 

[Osamede]

There is nothing “impossible” about long battery life on a small device. The front surface is what it is, but there is room to make it thicker while still being one-handable.

The problem comes when you subject the device to same thinness design standard as other devices. Then you are locked into a smaller battery pack.

The low frequency if usage is actually a reason why to design with enough battery capacity that you should not have to think about the device or charge it as frequently.

 

[Dark_Omen]

There is nothing “impossible” about long battery life on a small device. The front surface is what it is, but there is room to make it thicker while still being one-handable.

The problem comes when you subject the device to same thinness design standard as other devices. Then you are locked into a smaller battery pack.

The low frequency if usage is actually a reason why to design with enough battery capacity that you should not have to think about the device or charge it as frequently.

I was hoping about 7 years ago, at this point we'd have a phone about the width of an iPad Air and also made out of aluminum. Unfortunately battery tech still stinks, but then again, we put wasteful battery using resources like displays with 120mhz refresh rates and 400+ PPI when a 1080 display is more than optimal for a smartphone, as a standard smartphone feature.

 

[d686546s]

I have a Mini - love it - battery life still 80% at 8pm today. Sure, I haven't used the phone much at all, but it's been on all day, and I have been checking emails, using IG, taking pictures and video, and a bit of internet browsing. I'm just about to plough into it, but then I'll be all tucked up in bed and the phone will be charged again for tomorrow.

If it's empty at the end of the day, that doesn't matter. To me it's exactly the same as having a phone with 50% left on the battery at the end of the day. Either way, I'm still going to charge it back to 100% over night.

Just to start by saying that I don't actually believe that the Mini's battery is bad, but I do think it makes quite a big difference whether your battery is flat at the end of the day or whether you have 50% left.

Yes it will not matter most days, but it gives you headroom for the occasions where you unexpectedly stay longer in the office or meet friends and want to use your phone on the commute home, or when you're stuck somewhere, or when you travel. It might not be crucial and there's mitigations, but it matters occasionally. When it does, it matters quite a bit.

 

[Zammir]

I love my mini. Smaller + powerful phones are major key

 

[paradox00]

NO - I don't buy it. The people who complain about battery life on a small device are wanting and expecting something impossible and then having some kind of entitled rant about being let down by Apple's conspiracy against them.

It's not impossible to make a thicker phone. I don't really care if you buy the argument or not if all you can come up with is that word salad of a rant.

 

[Zorori]

The point refusal to acknowledge that the Mini is relevant seems to mainly be from people who prefer larger (moving into tablet territory) iPhones or can't face to 'downgrade' or 'coping' with a smaller display. One person here even said they'd be 'embarrassed' to own something called a Mini.

It's perhaps got more to do with 'bigger is better' and size matters than people are willing to admit to. It's like the M1 MacBook Pro vs the M1 MacBook Air. The Pro is better, right? And it's not pink! I could almost guarantee that if the Mini was called an iPhone 12 ProMini - nothing else different - that the perception would be somewhat different, but as with al lot of Apple (and others) products, history tells us that your not perceived as Pro, if you don't buy something that says Pro in it's name.

Some people just can't handle this.

It's an interesting case, as it used to be the other way around. I remember 13/14" Laptops being more expensive than their 15/16" brethren. Likewise smaller, lighter phones used to be more expensive than "bricks" (Razor vs Nokias).

Why? Because the smaller laptops were 'executive machines' designed for travel. You had to pay for the effort / research made to extract performance, dealing with heat, denser batteries, etc for the smaller form factor. A bit like how Apple put the R&D effort in for the MacBook 12's battery design, paid premium prices for low power chips, and the price reflected that.

Whilst, as you say, these days it's the other way around. A company puts the effort in making a smaller device that performs and the reaction people seem to have is: "but it's so small" followed by "my <insert larger/heavier device> is x% faster".

 

[DeepIn2U]

The SE has and will continue to kill the Mini.

Bingo!

I hope and expect Apple will :
1) kill the Xr
2) kill the current SE design, replace it with the 12 Mini, drop a camera and price accordingly. keep iPhone 11 cpu maybe. Done.
3 kill the 8 or limit to sales in India etc where sales for higher priced iPhones are still too prohibitive.

I Will Be buying a Mini. Don’t care if it’s sales are a lackluster.

you and me BOTH!

Thanks god, I love my 12 mini!

2 more weeks and I’ll move from my (downgraded) iPhone SE ‘16. 32 GB is getting really really buggy with 25-30GB usuage.

I came from the 2016 SE and I really don't get the huge phone thing that's going on. I want to be able to do most of my tasks with one hand. The smaller bezel on more recent phones in combination with a somewhat bigger phone are exactly what I wanted. I actually thought the Mini would be a huge succes, but that's probably because I saw it from my own needs and wishes. The new SE is indeed cheaper but a lot bigger too. And yes, battery life is not all what it should be, but it's still supposed to be better than the new SE.

what’s your storage? How are you getton with 14.3/4? I’m pretty much maxed out on storage playing with apps and downloaded Apple Music to get by. Can’t deal any longer with horribly kB typos. Auto correct is going really wild lately.

I want an iPhone Mini, but stuck at home my phone just sits on the desk most of the time. I'm keeping hold of my SE1 for a while longer. There is also the issue of not seeing the phone in real life, including judging potential PWM issues.

The camera system isn’t hobbled, and if they tweak the battery life a little bit, I’m totally in.

looking through options of early MagSafe batteries this may just tip over sales until the 12S Mini comes along. Then again even then.

 

[visasavo]

You should looks at Samsung’s lineup. It’s what, three times larger. Maybe more? It’s also the same number of phones as Apple offers now.

You’re also misapplying the sentiment meant by the statement. It was said in relation to Apple making extraneous products like printers. Not that they had too many of their core product on offer. Apple offers more Mac products than they do iPhones even though the latter has a user base many times larger than that of the former.

And I’ll put the quality of my 12 mini up against that of my first iPhone, a 3GS, any day of the week.

i will only focus on the fact that you own a 12 mini, kudos man. I really don't want that large phablet garbage any close to my existence.

 

[visasavo]

What’s wrong with it? Looks like there’s pretty much something for everyone. Especially if the SE is kept on for another year as the cheapest option.

it's a sh*tshow man... they are just producing a cluster fudge of stuff nobody asked for, yet everybody buys because most people think they aren't worth anything without constantly buying the new phone.
If it was for me I'd only have 2 phones. a 4 inch and a 4.7 inch
both with the same specs, so no customer would have to compromise.
Also I wouldn't force the Face ID gimmick to anybody, especially now during the pandemic.
Every product needs to come with Touch ID on the main button, like the new iPad.

 

[notrack]

I completely disagree. It is not much larger than the original SE.

That's not the point. The point is that the top of the screen is much higher up so I can't operate one-handed any more. It's impossible to grip it safely and navigate the entire screen (and/or support it with the pinky at the bottom). I can't even pull down from the top right, let alone anything that is at the top left.
The only way is to lay it horizontally on 4 fingers. But then I can't hold it upright propperly and grip it to prevent it from slipping off my hand. That's why it's too big imho.

 

[mattopotamus]

That's not the point. The point is that the top of the screen is much higher up so I can't operate one-handed any more. It's impossible to grip it safely and navigate the entire screen (and/or support it with the pinky at the bottom). I can't even pull down from the top right, let alone anything that is at the top left.
The only way is to lay it horizontally on 4 fingers. But then I can't hold it upright propperly and grip it to prevent it from slipping off my hand. That's why it's too big imho.

That is interesting. I have small hands, hold the phone left handed, and can do everything but pull down the top right. I can reach all icons though. It is very much a 1 handed device.

 

[diane143]

Took me a few nights to finish this thread, and I'm sure I'll forget half of what I was thinking while reading.

I'm an original SE owner. My first iPhone was a 4s, and the SE was a perfect upgrade from that. I was eagerly waiting for the SE2 and was disappointed in the size. I'm rough on my phones so I always have a bulky case which adds to size. I can't remember if the 12 Mini was already rumored by then since last year is one huge blur, but the stores being closed really kept me from getting one anyway.

2 years ago, my SO bought his first smartphone, an XR. I was looking around the Verizon store then and remember seeing one that I felt was a good size, a Palm maybe? It was "kind of" a smart phone. I'm at the point where I'm over having a computer in my pocket (and yes, I put my phone in my back pocket. Have you ever seen womens front jeans pockets? I've got Levis that I am lucky I can get my keys into much less a phone). So this has been in the back of my head for two years - what on earth am I going to do when I need to replace my SE?

I also bike. I am a small person and jersey pockets vary based on size. I like having three back pockets vs two which makes them even smaller. The bigger the phone, the harder to carry. My flip phone used to fit in my saddlebag. I have a couple I could stuff the 4S/SE into. I can't imagine having one that would fit a large phone. Again, small person, small bike.

It has been really difficult to get into stores to put hands on anything. Last fall I was able to get into Apple and compare the 12 Mini to my SE and was in love with it. Physically it's a hair bigger with a bit more screen space. The price is quite a bit more than I was hoping for. Verizon only has one on display, I'm not sure if Apple is open in my area yet.

I have yet to see the SE2020 and a 12 Mini side by side in person. If I was going by cost only, the SE2020 is the phone to get. The 12 Mini is a *much* nicer phone. I have an actual camera so a phone camera doesn't matter to me but I was still planning on buying a 12 Mini this spring because it hit my SIZE need.

Until I found this thread that is. I figure if the 13 Mini happens and is way more than I want, I can snap up a 12 Mini then. Had I been able to get to an SE last spring, this would have been the first time I'd have considered reselling quickly to get the 12 Mini.

I do think Apple needs a cheap phone. And I think they need a smaller phone. I guess the question really is: do they need to be the same phone? I think it's a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation.

That said, I don't think 12 million units sold is anything to sneeze at

 

[notrack]

That is interesting. I have small hands, hold the phone left handed, and can do everything but pull down the top right. I can reach all icons though. It is very much a 1 handed device.

That's what I expected when I ordered it. But I can only reach the entire screen when I lay it flat horizontally on my fingers so the screen faces up. I don't consider my hands as particularly small. As soon as I hold it in a way that it can't slip or fall, I can't reach the top. I have the pinky at the bottom, the palm on one side and at least one fingertip at the other side, just enough to secure it.
How are you holding it? Can you still reach the corners when holding it upright or over head, for example when lying on the couch so the phone faces downwards?

 

[mattopotamus]

That's what I expected when I ordered it. But I can only reach the entire screen when I lay it flat horizontally on my fingers so the screen faces up. I don't consider my hands as particularly small. As soon as I hold it in a way that it can't slip or fall, I can't reach the top. I have the pinky at the bottom, the palm on one side and at least one fingertip at the other side, just enough to secure it.
How are you holding it? Can you still reach the corners when holding it upright or over head, for example when lying on the couch so the phone faces downwards?

If I was laying down and holding the phone above me, I would use two hands simply so it wouldn’t smash my face if it slipped haha.

I hold it one handed with my pinky supporting the bottom. The back and side of the phone are resting on my fingers away from my palm. If I move it closer to my palm like you described, it greatly reduces the screen real estate I can reach.

 

[diane143]

I was finally able to hold a 12 Mini and SE2020 in my hands together yesterday. For those who like smaller phones, the Mini is it IMO. It's a smaller phone with a larger screen, compared to the SE2020. I am betting there are people who bought a SE in the spring that would have bought a Mini had they known about it.

But please keep the rumors of a 13 Mini coming!

 

[notrack]

If I was laying down and holding the phone above me, I would use two hands simply so it wouldn’t smash my face if it slipped haha.

I hold it one handed with my pinky supporting the bottom. The back and side of the phone are resting on my fingers away from my palm. If I move it closer to my palm like you described, it greatly reduces the screen real estate I can reach.

Ah I see. Thanks.
My work-around for now is to have medium sized widgets (2x4) on top of every page of the home screen. That way I can reach every app icon comfortably. The calendar widget turns out to be quite useful

 

[Apple_Robert]

I was finally able to hold a 12 Mini and SE2020 in my hands together yesterday. For those who like smaller phones, the Mini is it IMO. It's a smaller phone with a larger screen, compared to the SE2020. I am betting there are people who bought a SE in the spring that would have bought a Mini had they known about it.

But please keep the rumors of a 13 Mini coming!

Are you planning on joining the small phone club?

 

[diane143]

Are you planning on joining the small phone club?

I'm already in the small phone club with an original SE And yes to a new.... something small! I've been limping along for while cringing as the phones just got bigger and bigger

 

[Apple_Robert]

I'm already in the small phone club with an original SE And yes to a new.... something small! I've been limping along for while cringing as the phones just got bigger and bigger

I have the original SE as well. Great phone. You will love the mini. I think it is even better than the SE.

 

[audirs5]

I bought the Mini and the Pro. I returned the mini strictly because of the Camera. Give me that amazing camera in a mini format please.

 

[Shanghaichica]

I have the original SE. I bought it because it was a cheap back up to my pro max. The size is ok but I wouldn't have a small device as my daily driver. Apple obviously sold enough of the 12 mini to decide on making a successor. That's good news for those who like small phones.

 

[SYCAMOREGRAD]

I love my mini! It’s great for one-handed use!

 

[Jimmdean]

I’m sure they know it is because of the camera - how could they not? A lot of people that had the 11 pro would rather move down in size than up, but 11 pro to 12 mini is a camera downgrade. They really either have to bring back the 11 pro size or make the 13 mini an upgrade from the 11 pro in terms of the camera. Otherwise I’ll just stick with the 11 pro for anither year.

 

[xpxp2002]

I’m sure they know it is because of the camera - how could they not? A lot of people that had the 11 pro would rather move down in size than up, but 11 pro to 12 mini is a camera downgrade. They really either have to bring back the 11 pro size or make the 13 mini an upgrade from the 11 pro in terms of the camera. Otherwise I’ll just stick with the 11 pro for anither year.

Yes. It’s the lack of the telephoto lens. They can drop that UW lens. It’s a waste that produces distorted photos. I need optical zoom far more than a distorted ultrawide shot.

The mini was supposed to be a flagship phone for those who normally buy the “pro” model, but don’t want a 2 lb brick the size of a small laptop in their pocket.

The price argument I’ve been hearing for the past year is moot. The $1200+ Pro Max sold well and the SE already exists as a low-cost option. I would’ve paid $1200 for a fully featured iPhone 12 Pro mini, but they didn’t manufacture that.

People just wanted a normal size phone with Pro features, kind of like the iPhone X at the time it came out. The mini came close, but without the telephoto lens and 60 FPS Dolby recording, it came up just a bit short.