iPhone 12 iPhone Mini First Impressions

[s2mike]

So still 30% at the end of the day?

Was your total usage 2 hrs or usage plus 2 hrs streaming?

No, not 30% at the end of the day...I was down to 30% and was barely halfway through my work day.

That massive 50% drop was usage plus steaming.

Honestly, I just picked up the phone on Friday and it’s been an unusual weekend for me as far as usage, but I can just tell that the battery life on this phone isn’t gonna cut it for me.

I’ll do some real world testing this week and use the phone in the exact same way that I used my 11 Pro, but I can tell that I’ll either have to A) accept the fact that I’ll need to charge it a few times throughout the day, or B) suck it up and get the 12 or 12 Pro.

Very unfortunate, since I’ve been waiting years for this phone. I knew the battery life would be a compromise, but I guess I didn’t truly grasp exactly how much time I spend on my phone.

 

[s2mike]

My 13 mth old 11 pro got sold with 100% battery health

Wow. I got mine on launch day and was down to 87%

 

[s2mike]

No, not 30% at the end of the day...I was down to 30% and was barely halfway through my work day.

That massive 50% drop was usage plus steaming.

Honestly, I just picked up the phone on Friday and it’s been an unusual weekend for me as far as usage, but I can just tell that the battery life on this phone isn’t gonna cut it for me.

I’ll do some real world testing this week and use the phone in the exact same way that I used my 11 Pro, but I can tell that I’ll either have to A) accept the fact that I’ll need to charge it a few times throughout the day, or B) suck it up and get the 12 or 12 Pro.

Very unfortunate, since I’ve been waiting years for this phone. I knew the battery life would be a compromise, but I guess I didn’t truly grasp exactly how much time I spend on my phone.

My phone dropped 2% in the time it took me to type that.

 

[MrAperture]

Isn’t your phone under heavy use in the background when you first set up your phone? It takes a few days to settle down the iOS.

 

[Supermallet]

I took my phone off the charger at 6:30 this morning, went on a road trip from Portland to Seattle, using cellular the whole time. I haven’t charged my phone at all since then. It’s now a little past 9 local time, and my phone is at 25%.

I spent the day with 5G set to auto. I have auto brightness on (neither my wife nor I had any issues with the screen being too dim), True Tone off, and dark mode set as default. I was up and down the I-5 corridor, where the cell service went from great to poor to non-existent, switching from 5G to LTE to no service in an instant. Pretty taxing on the modem. I was with my family so I was taking a few videos, some photos, looking up spots to drive to, a little web browsing, some YouTube videos and Apple Music streaming. My wife and I use airdrop a lot so there were multiple file transfers as well. Since I was with my family I wasn’t consuming content as much as I might otherwise, but I used the phone as I normally would and it’s lasted the entire day. I also had my Apple Watch connected the entire day. I did speed tests in multiple spots to compare T-Mobile’s 5G service to their LTE service in different areas to decide whether to keep the phone on 5G auto or go to LTE only (verdict: 5G auto wins). So I’d say I used my phone as hard as I would normally use it and it’s lasted as long as I’ve needed it. I’m sure I could kill it much faster running high end online games but I don’t do that on my phone.

Another thing I usually don’t do is go a full day without any top off charging. My phone cradle in my car is a Qi charger, I have cables at the desk in my home office and at my couch, and of course on my bedside table. I purposefully didn’t do any extra charging at all today to see how far I could take the battery and while my 11 Pro would probably be more like 40-45% at this time of night, who cares? The battery here is giving me what I need to last through a day of regular use in varying conditions without me trying to baby the battery. If I were going on a longer trip and didn’t know if I’d have reliable access to an outlet, I’d bring a battery pack, which would be true if I were still using the 11 Pro as well.

Addendum: I got to 15% around 10:30 after using this site heavily and watching a 15 minute YouTube video at 1080p. So yes, you can wear the battery down on this faster than the bigger phones with a lot of media consumption. I still have no issue with the battery as it is and going forward will not worry about it. I think the Mini is an absolute home run.

 

[s2mike]

Isn’t your phone under heavy use in the background when you first set up your phone? It takes a few days to settle down the iOS.

Yeah I’ll give it a week and a half before making any decisions.

 

[DNAppleGold]

Mini

24 hrs in. Absolutely gorgeous phone. Something about the size that make the form and color pop. It feels so good in the hand - light but substantive. And the phone is so easy to operate -

Everything feels placed just so your fingers can operate them without stretching or changing phone position just because. The screen is stunning.



But it was the first time I put the phone in my jeans and coat pocket that I realized that how much of drag the larger phones are. The mini is just so small and light. I really do forget it's there.



To be fair, I had some worries going in. But most of which did not pan out, fortunately. Typing, I don’t have a problem typing with one or two hands on this phone. In fact in many ways it’s easier than the larger phones as suggestions and other buttons are within reach. I was also worried about reading emails and articles. With my older eyes I have the text size up a notch. In portrait mode the text does seem a bit small or narrow on some websites and apps. But it’s great in landscape mode which is easy to hold given the size. By the end of the day, I no longer noticed the the difference in most cases. And I am reading blogs, Short articles and emails as normal. (ironically the Mac rumors forum on the website looks small. However on Tapatalk it looks fine) Finally pictures look great but obviously don’t have the impact as a larger screen. I have not put the battery through its paces yet. But I rarely use the phone for more than 1/2 a day without some charging charging.



I’m coming from an iPhone 11. I always thought I'd be getting the 12 Pro this year. But holy cow the mini is fantastic. It is just so pleasurable to hold, to use, and to carry around. The smaller screen size does come with some drawbacks, but for me they are minor compared to the pluses. We will see if the thrill wears off in a few days, but as of this point I am loving it

 

[hemon]

Someone coming from the Pro thinks that the Mini is too small?

 

[Supermallet]

Fast charging on the mini feels lightning fast!

 

[s2mike]

Welp, going to bed with 5% battery remaining.

Pretty light usage today compared to my normal days, but I guess these stats really aren’t that bad.

Looking forward to giving this thing a proper trial this week.

 

[swarlos]

Someone coming from the Pro thinks that the Mini is too small?

Nope! I love it!! Now when I pick up the pro it feels like a brick haha.

But I’m torn cause I like to game on my phone and I don’t think the mini will be sufficient. I’m not a heavy gamer on my phone mainly playing candy crush LOL.

The mini just feels so good in the hand. *ladies...*

 

[RRC]

Welp, going to bed with 5% battery remaining.

Pretty light usage today compared to my normal days, but I guess these stats really aren’t that bad.

Looking forward to giving this thing a proper trial this week.

View attachment 1668954

What apps are showing as using the most battery for you?

 

[aakshey]

Welp, going to bed with 5% battery remaining.

Pretty light usage today compared to my normal days, but I guess these stats really aren’t that bad.

Looking forward to giving this thing a proper trial this week.

View attachment 1668954

Is this on 4G or WiFi? Average level of brightness? What kind of usage?

 

[MarkX]

Is this on 4G or WiFi? Average level of brightness? What kind of usage?

Give it a rest, you keep asking the same questions over and over.

If battery really is that much of a worry for you then don’t buy the mini, it’s that simple.

 

[Phone Junky]

Coming from the 11 Pro. By the end of my run with it, the battery health was down to 87% but I still got a full day of use from it.

With the mini, I dropped from 80% to 30% at work on Friday simply messaging, web browsing, and checking social media while streaming Apple Music for two hours.

If your 11 Pro was down to 87% battery health after a year, I'd say you are a fairly heavy user and can understand why the battery on the Mini wouldn't be good enough for you.

 

[Phone Junky]

Give it a rest, you keep asking the same questions over and over.

If battery really is that much of a worry for you then don’t buy the mini, it’s that simple.

Or he could get it and if the battery isn't good enough he could 'swap it out'. That's what he keeps telling everyone else to do. 🙂

 

[aakshey]

Or he could get it and if the battery isn't good enough he could 'swap it out'. That's what he keeps telling everyone else to do. 🙂

There are no returns in India. So I want to be sure before I order. I really want a smaller phone. But I don’t want the battery to be much worse than my 11 Pro. I can understand 15-20% worse. Any more and I’ll be upset.

 

[MarkX]

There are no returns in India. So I want to be sure before I order. I really want a smaller phone. But I don’t want the battery to be much worse than my 11 Pro. I can understand 15-20% worse. Any more and I’ll be upset.

Just accept that the 11 pro is the best option for you. The 12 mini will only disappoint.

 

[AppleWes]

Exchanged for regular iPhone 12 (not pro). Much more happy now, honestly I just couldn’t deal with smaller battery.

My job requires long hours in fulfillment center (yes the other big A) without easy access to charger so more than 12 hour battery life is important. Mini seemed to be less than 30% end of day and 12 is 60% or more.... and that’s even shortly after setup with many background WiFi tasks running.

 

[MarkX]

Exchanged for regular iPhone 12 (not pro). Much more happy now, honestly I just couldn’t deal with smaller battery.

My job requires long hours in fulfillment center (yes the other big A) without easy access to charger so more than 12 hour batter life is important. Mini seemed to be less than 30% end of day and 12 is 60% or more.... and that’s even shortly after setup with many background WiFi tasks running.

Surely if the mini ended the day with 30% or even a little under then it still lasted a day?

I’m not sure why the battery anxiety.

 

[The Game 161]

If it ended the day on like 5% with light usage then thats not good but on normal usage as long as it lasts you a day surely thats fine?

 

[AppleWes]

Surely if the mini ended the day with 30% or even a little under then it still lasted a day?

I’m not sure why the battery anxiety.

Honestly just personal choice. The screen was a bit small (I know “well mini is the name”), it’s a great phone still! Just not for me.

 

[MarkX]

Honestly just personal choice. The screen was a bit small (I know “well mini is the name”), it’s a great phone still! Just not for me.

I’ve nothing against personal choice and I’m not having a go It’s just that people seem to get hung up on battery life.

Most people charge their phone daily so what’s the deal with having to have 40, 50, 60% etc left at the end of day.

 

[Cryates]

Welp, going to bed with 5% battery remaining.

Pretty light usage today compared to my normal days, but I guess these stats really aren’t that bad.

Looking forward to giving this thing a proper trial this week.

View attachment 1668954

Nearly 7 hours SOT is what you consider light usage? Good grief.

Also looks like you didn’t at all try to take advantage of low power mode.

 

[aakshey]

Nearly 7 hours SOT is what you consider light usage? Good grief.

Also looks like you didn’t at all try to take advantage of low power mode.

I was thinking the same thing too.