Macs still have Touch ID
iPad 9th gen is still for sale with a Touch ID home button.
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iPhone SE 4 Rumored to Feature Action Button, USB-C, Face ID, and More
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iPad 9th gen is still for sale with a Touch ID home button.
What kind of display SE gets depends on whether SE gets to adopt the Xr/11 or the 12/13/14 design as it under no circumstances gets a new, unique display, but will simply adopt one of the (by then much) older displays and design of an older mid-range.
I like the price of the current SE, but I've grown spoiled by small bezels and OLED. Android phones have been shipping 200-300 euro OLEDs for years, it would be great if Apple could deliver it at the price point of the current SE. Never will I spend 1k+ on a phone, when that same 1k could easily go towards a device that I don't already have six of.
For all the mini enthusiasts here, also have a look at this post with some useful insights:
Post in thread 'iPhone mini future'
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/iphone-mini-future.2395389/post-32378299
Post in thread 'iPhone mini future'
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/iphone-mini-future.2395389/post-32378299
And how many rumors, leaks and predictions by analysts have we gotten for new minis since 13 mini dropped?
None. Only rumors about how sales numbers were too low to do more minis.
And think about this:
"Recent data shows that 25- to 34-year-olds account for 27% of iPhone users. The second most popular age bracket is 35-44 (23%), closely followed by 18 to 24s (22%)." (Source: CIRP)
And the most popular apps in the AppStore for the last couple of years are TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram.
You are not selling a <6" display + <3000mAh battery smartphone to the average iPhone buyer in 2023 and beyond. There's simply not enough juice to do what the average iPhone users does on an iPhone.
mini would only attractive for those who practice "mindfulness" and "digital detox" stuff, putting their phones away so they can focus.
But that's a tiny minority of the market. Teeny, tiny.. mini sized demographic. 😅
Largest demographic of iPhone owners, aged 18-44, is on social media for several many hours per day and, naturally, wants a big, bright display in a device that lasts for as long as possible on a single charge.
iPhones mini cannot accommodate these needs with 33% less battery than its mid-range counterpart.
Furthermore, Apple already ditched the mini in favor of a Plus sized mid-range.
-How much louder do you want Apple to scream "iPhone mini is not coming back"?
They seem too good to be true... now. USB-C is required by the EU in 2025, so that's not even an optional thing for apple. By then, FaceID will most likely be moved to a dynamic island for all new models (or even something else), so they can use the old FaceID modules they have lying around. Displays will have moved on to all high refresh rates and LTPO for an always on display, which the SE will most likely not have (so they can again use old parts and still have a major differentiator in the display).
That leaves the action button... maybe they just want to make sure they don't leave any technical bagage that they'll have to support in iOS for years because of one model. Technical baggage is a cost too.
This post does not mention minis, focusing more on Apple being disappointed with 14+ sales. Don’t get me wrong, if Apple surprise us all and quietly refresh 13 mini with an A16, adding a USB-C to it, I would happily get it to replace my ageing 12 mini. I just would not bet on it.
The thing is, photography is pretty much a basic like the phone or browser capability these days. Most people I know who are not techies and use their phone for just basics still care that their photos look good. That goes whether they are in the 70% publishing them on social media or the 30% that just want to share images privately with friends and family. Video calls are another form of engagement that is becoming more and more common and for that a reasonable front camera is needed. An SE with one of its biggest differentiators being camera quality might serve more to drive that audience towards Android than to provide Apple profits from that segment of the market.
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Honestly, I wouldn’t mind an SE that is “unapologeticly plastic” as long as the plastic was high quality. It would be much cheaper than aluminum and glass, harder to shatter, magnets and wireless charging would be easy, it would weigh less than a bunch of glass and there would be less risk of their new 5G modem being blocked in some way.
Agreed. I have kept my SE3 while moving the rest of the family to 11/14's. No one in my family likes FaceID. They just deal with it because that's what the phone has. Why Apple doesn't move TouchID to the power button like the iPad is beyond me.
FaceID is not a replacement for Touch ID. It's a fussy PITA and unusable while driving (unless you're an ******).
"Gestures" are the best attempt at a replacement for a lost feature here, but are still a fussy PITA (even after you get past their non-discoverability). Gee, how many times will it take to swipe from the lower-right corner of the screen to get the application list (and not some other panel) this time? Arguably worth it to expand the screen real-estate, so I'll give you that one.
"Gestures" are the best attempt at a replacement for a lost feature here, but are still a fussy PITA (even after you get past their non-discoverability). Gee, how many times will it take to swipe from the lower-right corner of the screen to get the application list (and not some other panel) this time? Arguably worth it to expand the screen real-estate, so I'll give you that one.
It isn't just people with small hands either. I haven't "upgraded" from my mini because I want a small phone that actually fits in my pocket and in other spaces. I don't need something approaching an iPad mini. I just want a phone that I can do most spart things on and then watch some videos and stuff occasionally.
For me, either a bare bones iPhone with a good screen that's super slim or a bare bones iPhone with a great camera that is still mini size.
I have a background of carrying a Leica around so I appreciate quality and simplicity. I don't need 10 lenses on my phone. It's fascinating what they are capable of but I don't need it.
That depends how you mainly use your phone.
I get that, but that is just your segment of the market. I know a lot of older people and some business people that just want a small phone to make calls, get texts, and check mail; which is90% of their use. Photos are an afterthought, and the SE hits that market as well as the low cost segment.
So many people saying the mini small size wasn’t popular, and whilst I concede the device DID fail I don’t think it was the form factor that killed it. It is the fact that not only it was smaller, and hence you’d expect to cost less, but it didn’t, it was expensive. It was a budget (non-Pro) model and yet STILL was almost as, if not more expensive than large models of the previous year - which were still on sale. People might be happy with a small phone, but they’re going to expect to pay the small phone price. Apple priced it at a point that it got cannibalised. And we can see the same thing happening to the larger models now too, which are also being cannibalised by previous generation, even though they are not tiny at all.
Could this be the new "mini?" I just got a 13 mini and will use it till it falls apart.
Agreed.
An additional/larger storage option, along with an improved camera(s), in the current form factor (with touch id) would be an instant buy for me...
Hell, I'd buy two!
I have so many customers who had children who purchased new "better" iPhones w/o the home button and TouchID who were so frustrated, they traded them in and got SE2s, and more recently, SE3s...
Someone at Apple has to have someone in their lives who's older, more set in their ways, who can explain how frustrating the Home Button-less phones are for older customers. Older customers are typically the ones with more disposable income.. you'd think someone at Apple would think of that, and care about getting those peoples money at least as much as the money from the typical "New Shiny! Unboxing! THIIIINNNNNN!!!! OMG SUPER DEHYDRATED YELLOW iPhone EXCITE!!!!" vlogers?
Or, is Apple happy to see all those potential iPhone buyers and Apple Services buyers go to cheep flip phones?
Even if the sales of the phones themselves don't make a lot of money for Apple, the ongoing Services money would seem to matter heading into the future... Loosing those users/buyer to cheep flip phones would be sub-optimal, right?
Shrug.