iPhone 13 Mini Still Expected Despite Lackluster iPhone 12 Mini Sales

[macsound1]

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.

I came to the 12 mini from an 8.
I too was disappointed that I got a wide and standard lens because I wanted the telephoto for the exact reason you stated.
But I can't believe it, I've used the wide angle lens incredibly often, more than I ever thought I'd use the telephoto.

 

[Prince Akeem]

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.

Everyone has different use cases. I (and a lot of other people) use the wide-angle lens a lot on my 12 mini, even more than the normal lens. It's great, although it could use a better chip for les grain in night pictures. I wouldn't buy a new mini if it didn't have the wide angle lens anymore. I don't need a telephoto lens at all on a phone: real good tele lenses won't fit in a flat phone housing anyway, for those cases I would rather use a SLR camera.

 

[chucker23n1]

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.

I imagine Apple looked at the numbers, realized far more people use the ultrawide than the telephoto, and decided accordingly.