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The vast majority of people don’t want small phones anymore. If they did, the iPhone Mini line would still be around. The demand clearly isn’t there.
Bullseye

While I myself wished that the smaller mini line could still be around, it's clear to see that most of us (myself included) have become accustomed to the bigger sizes

One thing that I will never be sold on is the plus/max sized ones though; that is pretty much crossing over into what used to be the whole phablet territory
 
Bullseye

While I myself wished that the smaller mini line could still be around, it's clear to see that most of us (myself included) have become accustomed to the bigger sizes

You hit the dartboard, but missed the bullseye

Nothing is "clear" about it at all other than Apple would want more people to want a Mini than they've experienced so far. What further muddies demand implications is the feature choices Apple makes (or doesn't) for given offerings.

That alone can dramatically change who buys which model -- and it's far beyond size that is dictating that.
 
Bullseye

While I myself wished that the smaller mini line could still be around, it's clear to see that most of us (myself included) have become accustomed to the bigger sizes

One thing that I will never be sold on is the plus/max sized ones though; that is pretty much crossing over into what used to be the whole phablet territory
I always thought the Plus/Max phones were too big until I tried one. Now I don’t think I could go back to the smaller phones
 
I always thought the Plus/Max phones were too big until I tried one. Now I don’t think I could go back to the smaller phones
I love my iPad mini (6th gen) too much to justify having a giant phone (use mine mainly as an e-reader and also for YT and stuff on the go as I don't have a laptop anymore for the moment), but I can see why those like yourself and others say that once you go plus/max you can't go back
 
Imagine - they bring the mini back - without notch. 5.4" is more than enough. This will be the one to get.
 
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To make a device that's a good balance between what the average consumer actually feels like they get good value/$ when forking over $429+ while Apple sees really good profit margins because the internals will be (largely) outdated or markedly lower spec'ed than the mid-tier and Pro iPhones?

I don't understand why some of you still don't grasp that the average consumer wants as big a display and battery as possible when buying a new smartphone? That "phablet" sized smartphones are the norm for smartphones now? Because the average person spends more and more time on their devices?

It's not a discussion of emotions, logic, or any of our preferences. It's a matter of sales numbers, numbers that didn't meet Apple's standards so they cut the mini.

iPhones mini are never coming back.

Agreed. There is definitely a market for smaller form factor phones, but it is not large enough to be cost effective for Apple to manufacture and sell.
 
Agreed. There is definitely a market for smaller form factor phones, but it is not large enough to be cost effective for Apple to manufacture and sell.

What?

Are you suggesting they were losing money per unit?

They wouldn’t even design and build any device like that to begin with.
 
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Agreed. There is definitely a market for smaller form factor phones, but it is not large enough to be cost effective for Apple to manufacture and sell.

Is that so?

I had the SE2. Why not the 12-mini? Easy, after the SE1, the SE2 got finally launched after 4 years, so I was first in line. Halve a year later the 12 mini got launched. Too bad. A year ago I got myself the 13-mini because an SE4 wasn't on the horizon and Apple was said to have killed the mini-line. I managed to get the 13-mini for a nice discount so I decided to upgrade earlier than I normally do. I don't care to have the latest frills iPhone. Size does matter as for me a small phone is a pro one: it's a tool which helps me doing my job. I really dislike anything bigger, including the XS my daughter owns (and loves).

Now about that market. I suspect all SE users to be rather economical, keeping their iPhones for a longer period than the Pro/Max users. When I read the figures on this website https://mixpanel.com/trends/#report/iphone_models/from_date:-20,to_date:0 I learn 1 in 20 iPhone users is currently using one of the smaller latest ones (SE/mini). That's the market for a new mini. That figure is on par with the Pro and the Pro/Max 14. That should be an in interesting market, at least in my book. And my book would kill the iPhone Plus series based upon these statistics.

For the mini to reappear I guess we will need to keep remembering Apple about phones that size. Again and again. I would be very happy if Apple would just launch such a phone every two or three years. When mine breaks down, I can get a pretty recent one easily. And don't let idea the mini-iphone market being a too small one become a selffulfilling prophecy as I cannot believe that market is really a small one. Apple just seems to have made several tactical mistakes with their confusing launches of SE and Mini series over the last years.
 
I don't see how it could have the DI, it would make the SE basically an iPhone 16.

Also, I don't want a phone the same size as the minis, I got sent an iPhone 12 mini by mistake and it was bigger than I expected but the text was harder to read and it was not as immersive as on my XS. I would've liked it coming from my old 2016 SE but I don't want to go back to a smaller size due to those sacrifices.
 
About time Apple is bringing their “low cost” iPhone SE with full screen. Even Android phones half the price come with only a punch hole in their screens. Oh wait… that was rumored to be the top future of the to be released iPhone 16 pro max.
You forgot about needing space for FaceID and the Truetone sensor. That punch hole phone likely has just a back of the phone touch sensor.
 
Quite possible for it to have similar design as that of the upcoming iPhone 16 especially since the SE will be released only much later after 16 launches.
 
A flash below the lens? That's a big no-no. It forces shadows up, so you can see them, rather than down - especially when a subject is close to a wall or some other object. Also, it illuminates places like under noses and chins, where we are used to seeing shadows. It makes the tops of eye sockets brighter than they should be. That's because we are hard wired to expect light to come from above, such as the sky, and when you flip that around and the light comes from beneath, the lizard part of our brains tell us that something is wrong. Old horror movies like Frankenstein used this technique to cause unease in the audience.

Yes, I know it's a tiny flash beneath a tiny lens and they're very close. The axis of light output will still be beneath the lens when held vertically regardless, and the physics of light doesn't change. There's a reason why even small cameras with small built-in flashes don't put the flash on the bottom of the camera. I hope they are wrong with this rumor.
 
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I don't understand why some of you still don't grasp that the average consumer wants as big a display and battery as possible when buying a new smartphone? That "phablet" sized smartphones are the norm for smartphones now? Because the average person spends more and more time on their devices?
True.

But Apple isn‘t in the business of selling the average customer just what he wants for $429 - when they can sell it starting at $729 instead. So always was the iPhone SE:

To make a device that's a good balance between what the average consumer actually feels like they get good value/$
The iPhone SE hasn’t been about that.

iPhone SE always was about selling something in some way „below“ what the average customer wants - at a cheap entry-level price.

And one of the strongest differentiators has always been screen size for the iPhone SE. That’s why I wouldn’t be surprised if „mini“ iPhones are coming back - but in the form of a new SE.
 
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If it's the same size as the iPhone 13 mini, I'm getting it. If it's the size of an iPhone 14 then I'm getting a 13 mini.
 
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