iPhone 12 iPhone Mini First Impressions

[yticolev]

My pinky finger is in hell with the 12 pro Max.

Interesting to learn how many hold iPhones with their pinky finger. I don't think I have ever done that. Trying it now feels uncomfortable even with the Mini. I do have shorter fingers, but still suspecting that many have more lateral flexibility with their little finger than I do.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I just double checked my mini’s auto-brightness feature and it doesn’t appear to have a problem. Turning it off or on doesn’t change the brightness. I can manually turn the brightness all the way up and the screen responds as it is supposed to.

 

[ericwn]

Yes. It can be verified if you compare to other iPhones at the store. But I’m confident the genius won’t have a clue about this.

Doesn’t matter then if it can easily be verified. Even in the rare case that the genius won’t understand what you’re on about.

 

[yticolev]

That's a show stopper for me; particularly if the 5G sim won't be swap-able back with the 4G only phone. I've always used at least 2 phones by simply swapping sims. Please let me know if you can use the new SIM in your old phone.

Tom

Will do. Going in the next couple hours. Stay tuned. I do suspect that the 5G Sim will be backward compatible. I'll also ask about eSim possibilities - that could be a solution for you.

 

[laestrella]

Yes, learned about it on this thread and enabled it. Works well, momentary delay while the phone is working out what the taps meant I think. While I never used reachability on my 6S (probably should have), having the control center on the top of this rather tall screen means it is out of reach with either hand holding the phone. So the back tap is very useful.

I played a little with accessibility options and you can tap a corner for the control center. Despite selecting top left (my one handed use is generally left hand), it doesn't seem to work. Would be great if it does work because reaching for a tap is far easier than reaching for a swipe down from the top.

Are you referring to the dwell feature? Seems like that may only be for trackpads and mice. Would have been great if we could use that with touch as well.

I’m going to also try out AssistiveTouch. We will see how long the icon on the screen annoys me. But it may be a good compromise in order to reach the notification shade and control center.

 

[yticolev]

It is defective. If disabling Auto Brightness increases your brightness, it IS INDEED defective. If your phone was normal, your brightness level would stay the same with Autobrightness on/off except for when brightness was 100%. Please get it changed. No genius will have a clue about this, so do me a favour and return it before you regret it for the rest of its life.

Again, thanks! Very helpful. I was considering a different color anyway. Why won't a genius know about this issue? Sounds like it should come up often. I'd love to learn more about how you know all this!

 

[Supermallet]

For those who are using backtap to trigger reachability to swipe down control center, if your main purpose for needing reachability is control center you can program one of the back taps to be specifically for the control center and skip the steps of using reachability and swiping down.

 

[yticolev]

One other thing to note: perhaps it is the Pro Max, but I know I watched an unboxing that showed a Sim tool in the box. My Mini didn't come with one, and guessing it is the waterproofing, but the Sim tray is very difficult to open. I had to use a pin with a pair of pliers.

 

[ericwn]

Again, thanks! Very helpful. I was considering a different color anyway. Why won't a genius know about this issue? Sounds like it should come up often. I'd love to learn more about how you know all this!

It’s just making assumptions. They employ thousands of them so this generalisation falls flat like so many.

 

[yticolev]

For those who are using backtap to trigger reachability to swipe down control center, if your main purpose for needing reachability is control center you can program one of the back taps to be specifically for the control center and skip the steps of using reachability and swiping down.

Great tip. Will try later.

 

[justinnum1]

few things coming from a first gen SE

-it feels nice in the hand, a little heavier tho i will get use to it
-have to open control center to see battery %, not a huge deal but rather see the number than the icon.
-its danm fast. wow.
-oled is nice.
-having the whole front of the device be screen is really nice.
i can only reach about 60% of the screen with my thumb with one hand operation, vs about 90% of my SE...if i do end up needed to use 2 hands for a lot of functions, i might have to reconsider one of the larger phones but so far im very pleased with the performance, im going to miss the SE.

 

[yticolev]

It’s just making assumptions. They employ thousands of them so this generalisation falls flat like so many.

I don't know. His answers were very authoritative. If he knows that much about this issue, he likely knows Genius's are not trained on this issue. Perhaps it is an overgeneralization, but I have to say, I've not encountered anything but superb Genius's.

 

[luckerr]

I am coming from iphone 6!! AAaaaan just got my blue mini. It looks absolutely amazing!

QUESTION! What charger are you guys gonna be using? Or planning to use? Because I don't have anything lower than 10W charger from my old iPad mini. Well, I bought 20W charger with the phone.. but It's not a great idea to use this 20W daily right?

 

[ericwn]

I don't know. His answers were very authoritative. If he knows that much about this issue, he likely knows Genius's are not trained on this issue. Perhaps it is an overgeneralization, but I have to say, I've not encountered anything but superb Genius's.

He/she always writes this way. It is most certainly assumptions.
Tech support staff in retail jobs is certainly more hit and miss, as are all encounters in retail. Some are good at it some aren’t.

 

[CubeHacker]

Thanks for that! I looked yesterday for that setting and couldn't find it where I expected to find it. This morning I used search, found it, and disabled. Looks like my phone isn't defective, now it is brighter than the 6S. However, I should think that it should be as bright with both set to auto brightness (which my 6S has always been). So perhaps I should still have a chat with a Genius.

On most new phones, the phone limits the max brightness in auto brightness mode unless it detects bright sunlight that it needs to overcome. Otherwise it limits you to a slightly lower "max brightness".

You can try this yourself and verify. Put it back on auto brightness and crank it to max. Then go outside under bright sun, or use a bright lamp indoors and put the phone under it. It will get brighter still.

 

[laestrella]

few things coming from a first gen SE

-it feels nice in the hand, a little heavier tho i will get use to it
-have to open control center to see battery %, not a huge deal but rather see the number than the icon.
-its danm fast. wow.
-oled is nice.
-having the whole front of the device be screen is really nice.
i can only reach about 60% of the screen with my thumb with one hand operation, vs about 90% of my SE...if i do end up needed to use 2 hands for a lot of functions, i might have to reconsider one of the larger phones but so far im very pleased with the performance, im going to miss the SE.

The only issue with the larger phones is that they are also heavier. So you will probably have to consider weight in addition to reachability. But I found the regular 12 to be a pretty good compromise between screen size and weight. The 12 pro was a no go for me.

 

[aakshey]

Again, thanks! Very helpful. I was considering a different color anyway. Why won't a genius know about this issue? Sounds like it should come up often. I'd love to learn more about how you know all this!

Please PM me to know more.

 

[DumbPhone]

look many app not fill screen only apple app...kaa

 

[Cryates]

I’m basically pushing my Mini today with more screen time than I ever typically would to see how hard it might be to kill it.

Tasks I would usually do on my iPad Mini are going to be done with my iPhone Mini, and so on.

For example, I just lost 3% watching MKBHD’s 16-minute review of the PS5 on YouTube.

 

[aakshey]

I’m basically pushing my Mini today with more screen time than I ever typically would to see how hard it might be to kill it.

Tasks I would usually do on my iPad Mini are going to be done with my iPhone Mini, and so on.

For example, I just lost 3% watching MKBHD’s 16-minute review of the PS5 on YouTube.

What was your brightness? Were you using AirPods or Mini in built speakers on full volume?

 

[ericwn]

look many app not fill screen only apple app...kaa

Kaa? What does that mean?

 

[IJBrekke]

i can only reach about 60% of the screen with my thumb with one hand operation, vs about 90% of my SE...if i do end up needed to use 2 hands for a lot of functions, i might have to reconsider one of the larger phones but so far im very pleased with the performance, im going to miss the SE.

Speaking to this point, I have noticed that the SE is fully accessible without ever adjusting your grip whatsoever. The newer-style phones are a constant juggling routine to reach the top portions of the screen one-handed. The new mini requires some minimal grip adjustment for certain things, meaning it’s either an improvement or a downgrade depending on which phone you’re coming from.

 

[mjb59463]

Has anyone else noticed PWM-related issues with the Mini? I’ve had the X, XS, 11 Pro and 12 Pro, and none of them have left my eyes feeling the way they do currently.

Wondering if my eyes have finally passed the threshold of being able to use a small phone.....

 

[Cryates]

What was your brightness? Were you using AirPods or Mini in built speakers on full volume?

Auto brightness, at about 40%, using my Sony WH-1000XM4 over Bluetooth.

Honestly though, that’s just a tiny sample after only one overnight charge.

 

[aakshey]

Auto brightness, at about 40%, using my Sony WH-1000XM4 over Bluetooth.

Honestly though, that’s just a tiny sample after only one overnight charge.

This doesn’t mean much yet. But if this ends up happening consistently, it’s not great.