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iPhone 17 Base Model Rumored to Feature Larger Display
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It's important for heavy use when there are few charging options, yes. Lots of people charge in their cars, at work, etc., but yes, someone who works as a trash collector, for example, needs all-day battery.
And those who still hold onto their mini iPhone likely include some like me who do all the heavy lifting on other devices, like Apple Watch, iPad, and Mac, so the iPhone sits mostly unused. Mine is on 5G 24/7, never on WiFi unless I need to update my Apple Watch, and here's my last ten days of battery:
The iPhone Fold is going to be the new “small” phone (when folded). They’re not bringing minis back.
iPhone 16 is 4mm taller (about 5/32", slightly more than 1/8"), and within about half a millimeter on width and thickness, compared to an iPhone X. It's also 4 grams lighter than an iPhone X. Is that really dealbreaking for you?
In trade, it has a bigger screen with twice the contrast and substantially higher brightness, faster CPU, much bigger neural engine, 48MP back camera vs 12MP, substantially more battery life, 5G, MagSafe, is more waterproof, and has a ton of other upgrades. The iPhone 16 Pro adds even more features, but it's 6mm taller than the iPhone X (a bit under 1/4"), and 25 grams (0.88oz) heavier.
I find it rather amusing that some posters here continually whine about Apple no longer making smaller iPhones, even though those phones didn't sell in any meaningful way to justify their continued manufacturer, yet steadfastly refuse to go to another phone company that does.
For me I think 6.3” is finally the perfect sized iPhone for me, a nice balance between small enough for my pocket but big enough for watching videos and such.
But for my wife these phones are too huge. Women’s pants pockets are not made for phones these days. She likes having it in her pocket. The mini barely fits, and she refuses to upgrade until Apple makes a new mini. They’re literally leaving money on the table. I’m about to get the battery swapped on it for her so it will last her longer, before Apple ends up saying it’s vintage.
After that? She said she may just stop using a smartphone. I don’t know how she can do that in this current decade but my wife is a very strong willed woman and I believe her.
But for my wife these phones are too huge. Women’s pants pockets are not made for phones these days. She likes having it in her pocket. The mini barely fits, and she refuses to upgrade until Apple makes a new mini. They’re literally leaving money on the table. I’m about to get the battery swapped on it for her so it will last her longer, before Apple ends up saying it’s vintage.
After that? She said she may just stop using a smartphone. I don’t know how she can do that in this current decade but my wife is a very strong willed woman and I believe her.
So, she’ll get left behind then. You can be sure that Apple doesn’t care if they lose a few of those like her here and there, esp. if they gain other buyers of bigger iPhones like the 16e.
Is Mac Mini selling in any meaningful way? Is the Vision Pro? No, yet here they are. Minis combined sold over 50 mil units, that isn’t “not meaningful”, especially given the much cheaper SE being available at the time as well. Not everyone needs a phablet buddy, not everyone spends 5h a day doomscrolling on tik tok.
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It didn't help they released it right after they released the original SE.
I, like many people had just bought the SE to replace my 6s and then the mini shows up and I was "that's what I really wanted, but I just replaced my phone".
Actually, the 16e doesn't have mmwave, and the SE3 did. I just upgraded and went 16 instead of 16e because of that. Plus I didn't want to be the beta tester for Apple's first modem.
Fair point. Most US reviews have said it hasn’t much of a real world difference, but I don’t live in the US so mmWave is irrelevant to us anyway.
Up here in Canada, we still have the SIM tray too, which is great.
My wife LOVED her mini because it fit in her pants (like all women complain about, rightly so) but she hated the battery life. She ended up getting a Plus just because of that. Doesn’t like the size as much but loves the battery life.
I also use a larger phone (Pro Max) mostly for the battery to last all day. I use it for work a lot and don’t want to faff about with battery packs.
You nailed it.
According to estimates, Apple manufactured around 500k Vision Pro units. Let's be generous and say all of them were the cheapest ($3,500) model that's still nearly $2 billion dollars for a product that's "not selling in any meaningful way".
Rofl. Not meaningful? Just a quick number crunch would tell you that 50 million units multiplied by $600 USD equates to $30 billion. Realistically, that number is most likely around 38 million (75%) new Minis sold with refurbs and second-hand sales making up the rest. Multiplied by $600 and you get nearly $23b USD. I would classify that as pretty meaningful. *
* I'm obviously ofc estimating as Apple doesn't give out specific numbers. As Apple has the numbers and we do not, only they know what sells and what does not and Apple's obviously made the decision that it makes more financial sense for them to sell a $600 desktop (and perhaps some of the peripherals for it) than it did to sell a smaller phone when the majority were buying larger iPhones.
Also, don't call me "buddy".
You’re 100% right. Once iOS 26 comes out, both the 12 and 13 Minis will chew through battery like nothing. I may want to upgrade from my 1st gen SE to a secondhand 13 Mini and keep it on iOS 18.
Battery life on the iPhone minis has always sucked, even at launch, but just in case you’re going by current iOS 26 battery life reports: You can’t really use iOS 26 dev 2 beta as a gauge for comparison of battery life since the early betas always seem to have significantly worse battery life than the release version.
That said, it’s not bad on my 12 Pro Max but it’s hard to really compare there too since just before I installed iOS 26, I had a new battery installed, so effectively I’m comparing iOS 18 with 81% battery health to iOS 26 with 100% battery health.
This part seems important too, I agree:
"I'm obviously ofc estimating as Apple doesn't give out specific numbers."
Did you misunderstand or something? I said 50 mil of 12 Mini and 13 Mini combined sold isn’t not meaningful. You literally quoted me on it, so what are you rofling about bud? They sell barely 250 thousand Mac Minis a year. Crunch it quickly for us please, tell me how 30 mil at worst and 50 mil iPhones at best costing $699 is crunching more than roughly 200k a year at $599. People who buy Mac Mini rarely buy anything else than maybe a keyboard and a mouse in terms of peripherals from Apple, since it’s a BYOKDM. Mac Minis sit on desks for longer, sell less, cost less, yet here they are doing well for themselves. I can’t see why an iPhone Mini couldn’t be treated the same way, given that the upgrade cycle is also a lot shorter than that of a Mac Mini.
To those who inexplicably take issue with people wanting a smaller iPhone, would you be mad if your favourite shoes only came in sizes too big for your feet? Ok then. So stop being a douche.
How about if the issue is that most people wanted to wear hiking boots, so all of the desirable shoemakers stopped making anything but hiking boots. They fit your feet, but are bigger than you need.
We are somewhat having this problem with cars in the USA (especially EVs).
Everything keeps getting larger and homogenizing into some form of "crossover" 🤮
I'd suggest looking in the mirror. The main issue is the mini-advocates spamming every single iPhone thread. It's annoying.
Sorry -- We aren't going away and we won't stop talking about it.
It's absurd to have the only iPhone options be big, bigger and huge.
Human hands and pockets haven't increased in size like that.