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iPhone 13 mini Is it time to leave my beloved 13 mini

1rottenapple

1rottenapple

macrumors 601
Original poster
Apr 21, 2004
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I really love the form factor of this iPhone 13 mini with 512gb. However I’m finding that in the last few months, when I use gps (off roading) and charging, the phone overheats and shuts off. It becomes extremely hot!

I upgraded to 5g uw service on visible and it’s blazing fast, it’s awesome. However it seems as though when I stream YouTube and charge while using 5g uw, again it heats up and shuts down as well when I’m charging. It’s gotten worst with 5g uw. LTE isn’t as bad but websites are sluggish in parts of my location.

Before, shutting down will only happen with gps but now it’s YouTube on 5g uw and charging. Of course I neeed to charge because the battery is not amazing and 5g uw makes it worst.

I have yet to do a fresh install of the software since it’s such a pain but maybe I’ll try that next
 
Charging AND using your phone to at the same time can cause it to heat up.
Temperature fluctuations also cause the phone to "misbehave".
Third party cheap powercables sometimes cause voltage instability and may shut down phones.
Crashing after running multiple apps open together probably not issue with all that RAM you have.
Battery also could be the culprit depending on how much usage you do on your phone.
Heavy usage degrades the battery more quickly so might be time to change it if you are using the stock battery.
I have a stock battery now in my iPhone 13 Mini at 85% so I plan to replace it by mid 2025 latest.
 
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off you’re using it in a vehicle make sure it’s not attached to the vent when the heat is on. If it’s summertime and the AC is on that’s a plus.


The problem with small iPhones is they have small batteries and small frame to dissipate the heat but the same processor. It might be pushing it a little too hard trying to charge and use processor intensive application applications.

Consider putting a small DC fan on the phone if you must have it charging while doing stuff like this. It probably wouldn’t be hard to rig up something like this for the car mount, but obviously you don’t want to carry a fan when watching YouTube.

I didn’t see you mention a case but sometimes that will hold in heat.
 
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Yah not using a case and it’s not at the vents to heat it up. Battery health is 88%

I’ll try resetting the phone over the weekend. Just a shame it’s having issues
 
I'm on speeds higher than gigabit at home on mesh set up and 5G network in Japan. Spec wise lightning fast but when there are 10 million users online together in the rush hour piggybacking even high speed 5G becomes 4G ... I'd need my carrier to offer 20G in Tokyo to get real 5G speeds.
 
What IOS version are you on?

its time to hop back into an iPhone 13 mini :cool: assuming you get/got one that isn't having glaring issues
 
I actually got a 16 over the weekend. I’m not sure if I’ll keep it. It’s 256 and my mini has 512. I would like the 512 to be honest if I decide to keep the 16. Without a case it feels great in hand and thin, unlike the iPhone 14 Pro I briefly had. It feels really comfortable! It runs much cooler of course. Decisions.

I plan to off road this Friday and I want to see how satellite sos works when I’m in the middle of nowhere. But it’s hard to stomach paying so much for a phone when I basically use it the same as my mini. But I guess if I keep the 16 for 3 to 4 years, perhaps it’s good right? Plus satellite SOS.
 
1rottenapple said:
I actually got a 16 over the weekend. I’m not sure if I’ll keep it. It’s 256 and my mini has 512. I would like the 512 to be honest if I decide to keep the 16. Without a case it feels great in hand and thin, unlike the iPhone 14 Pro I briefly had. It feels really comfortable! It runs much cooler of course. Decisions.

I plan to off road this Friday and I want to see how satellite sos works when I’m in the middle of nowhere. But it’s hard to stomach paying so much for a phone when I basically use it the same as my mini. But I guess if I keep the 16 for 3 to 4 years, perhaps it’s good right? Plus satellite SOS.
Click to expand...

I would keep the Mini and get a new battery for it instead of the 16.
 
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1rottenapple said:
I actually got a 16 over the weekend. I’m not sure if I’ll keep it. It’s 256 and my mini has 512. I would like the 512 to be honest if I decide to keep the 16. Without a case it feels great in hand and thin, unlike the iPhone 14 Pro I briefly had. It feels really comfortable! It runs much cooler of course. Decisions.

I plan to off road this Friday and I want to see how satellite sos works when I’m in the middle of nowhere. But it’s hard to stomach paying so much for a phone when I basically use it the same as my mini. But I guess if I keep the 16 for 3 to 4 years, perhaps it’s good right? Plus satellite SOS.
Click to expand...
I held out against large iPhones too. I had the 12 Mini and 13 Mini and liked them both a lot. But, the battery life was really becoming an issue so I went to a 15 Pro. I still find it a little awkward to use one-handed, but it's not as bad as I'd feared and I've gotten used to it. I actually notice the bulky size when it's in my pockets. If the rumored "Ultra" thin iPhone gets released I'd definitely take a look at it if the battery life wasn't too horrible.
 
I had a similar issue with my 12 Mini when using GPS. It would get very warm and drain the battery (no surprise). Never had it shut down though. I've wondered what the external factors may be that would cause older technology to struggle. What's going on in the OS, satellites, cell towers that ask more of older processors?

As much as I enjoy the feel of the 16 in hand, it's extremely top-heavy and impossible to use with one hand. It's the first iPhone (of 10) I've ever needed a case for.

Aside from the GPS issue, I actually got better battery life out of my 12 Mini than the brand new 16. No idea how that's possible. I even use the 16 less because I just hate the thing. The only reason I downgraded to the 16 was because the speakers on the 12 were failing.
 
anthony131 said:
I had a similar issue with my 12 Mini when using GPS. It would get very warm and drain the battery (no surprise). Never had it shut down though. I've wondered what the external factors may be that would cause older technology to struggle. What's going on in the OS, satellites, cell towers that ask more of older processors?

As much as I enjoy the feel of the 16 in hand, it's extremely top-heavy and impossible to use with one hand. It's the first iPhone (of 10) I've ever needed a case for.

Aside from the GPS issue, I actually got better battery life out of my 12 Mini than the brand new 16. No idea how that's possible. I even use the 16 less because I just hate the thing. The only reason I downgraded to the 16 was because the speakers on the 12 were failing.
Click to expand...
oh so you really left the 12 mini? Hmmm I'll reset my phone and return the 16. Then I'll see if this issue is still bothering me significantly or I can wait until the 17, it's only 9 months away anyways.
 
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