Sorry, iPhone Mini Fans: Apple Isn't Planning Another Small Phone

[MacRumors]

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today shared bad news for fans of the iPhone mini.

In a live-streamed Q&A session today, Gurman said that Apple currently has no plans to reintroduce a smaller iPhone model.

Apple discontinued the iPhone 13 mini in September 2023, and it has not offered a mini model since then. Apple is not expected to release an iPhone 17 mini this year, and Gurman's revelation likely rules out an iPhone 18 mini next year too, given Apple's multi-year planning and development cycle for future iPhone models.

Since it discontinued the third-generation iPhone SE last month, Apple no longer offers any new iPhone models with under a 6-inch screen size. All of the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 models that Apple currently sells have between 6.1-inch and 6.9-inch displays, whereas the iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 13 mini had 5.4-inch displays. The final iPhone SE had a 4.7-inch display, albeit with thicker bezels that increased the device's overall size.

While there is a vocal group of customers who wish that Apple would bring back the iPhone mini, the smaller model simply never sold well enough for the company to continue offering it, according to market research firms. It is not much of a surprise that Apple is not currently reconsidering this decision, but it helps to set expectations for those who may still be holding out hope. Do not expect another iPhone mini any time soon.

The full Q&A audio stream can be replayed on Bloomberg's website.

Article Link: Sorry, iPhone Mini Fans: Apple Isn't Planning Another Small Phone

 

[Anonymous123]

It’s a shame. I’d actually buy an iPhone mini as a Pro phone, which Apple never made.

 

[sw1tcher]

In a live-streamed Q&A session today, Gurman said that Apple currently has no plans to reintroduce a smaller iPhone model.

Apple discontinued the iPhone 13 mini in September 2023, and it has not offered a mini model since then. Apple is not expected to release an iPhone 17 mini this year, and Gurman's revelation likely rules out an iPhone 18 mini next year too...

Did we really need Gurman to tell us about this obvious fact?

 

[jml12286]

But I need one. If it were a Pro Mini model and not a staggered delay release, I think the numbers would have been significantly more favorable.
I would buy 2 of them at launch even if they cost more than the bigger sizes 🤞

 

[MRSugarD]

So we can always look forward to the vocal Mini fanatics complaining about how Apple dares not to cater to their minority.

 

[goobot]

Would’ve bought a mini pro

 

[HouseLannister]

Would have sold better than the Vision Pro.

 

[foggygray]

If only they had released the mini at a better price point or just replaced the SE with the mini at the SE price point.

 

[profets]

if you spend a few weeks using a Pro Max, then going back to the 6.1" models will feel like holding a mini again.

 

[koelsh]

Still liking my 13 mini.

While this is a bummer I’ve been considering going with the Plus or Max phone next more as a replacement for an iPad. Carrying two devices is getting annoying.

 

[handirev]

Maybe Apple will offer a folding phone that will satisfy the folks who want a smaller iPhone.

 

[exmophie]

Apple would probably want to market the smaller screen sizes as the “lower cost” option in their price matrix, and considering the new Samsung Galaxy A16 has a 6.7” inch OLED screen with 90hz and retails for $200 in the United States, the $600 6.1” 60hz iPhone 16e can barely compete for the bottom-dollar mass market consumer.

 

[RobertoDLV]

Hope my 13 mini will still last for many years... Apple other phones are way too big for me.

 

[Slix]

I still stand by the idea that Apple released the mini at the worst time, right after the 2nd gen SE came out, and killed it off before the people who had bought the SE wanted a new phone, less than 3.5 years later.

I would have bought the 12 mini had the SE not come out when it did. But now we all have larger, more expensive iPhones! Yay!

 

[AMTYVLE]

Now I kind of want a mini, lol.

Best Buy still has the 13 Mini for sale (Refurb) for 359.99 for 128GB, FYI

 

[Paddle1]

Maybe the foldable will be small when closed.

 

[Shalev Lazarof]

Holding my Mini until further notice

 

[DavidDoyle]

Disappointing but not unexpected. I don't need a large phone and have been dismayed that phones, like cars, have just got incrementally bigger and bigger with little tangible benefit except higher prices and higher profits for manufacturers.

However, I'm sure there are some that absolutely NEEDED that extra 0.2" of screen on the 16 Pro over the 15 Pro........

 

[Return Zero]

5S and 12/13 mini still my favorite phones ever. Nothing will ever change my mind about that form factor being superior.

 

[Astuces iOS]

Ok but make an iPod touch 8 !

 

[iZac]

Yeah my only hope now is the rumoured 5.5" folding iPhone.

Maybe I can just glue it shut

 

[sw1tcher]

I still stand by the idea that Apple released the mini at the worst time, right after the 2nd gen SE came out, and killed it off before the people who had bought the SE wanted a new phone, less than 3.5 years later.

I would have bought the 12 mini had the SE not come out when it did. But now we all have larger, more expensive iPhones! Yay!

The iPhone 16e ($599.00) is priced less than that iPhone 12 mini ($699.00, or $856.00 when adjusted for inflation) you would have bought. It also has 2x the RAM (8GB vs 4GB) and storage (128GB vs 64GB) of the base iPhone 12 mini.

As to your complaint that current iPhone are too large, yes, they are larger but when compared to your iPhone SE, the iPhone 16e and 16 are just a tiny bit bigger in overall dimension. I can hardly tell the difference when looking at my 3rd gen SE and iPhone 14 (same dimensions as iPhone 16) when they're sitting side-by-side next to each other.

 

[HighwaySnowman]

Would have sold better than the Vision Pro.

The mythical Apple car would have sold better than the Vision Pro. No idea why they made that silly thing.

 

[Veinticinco]

The Mini actually had an obvious user base though, kids/teens (including mine) and those who don't like/want/need a massive screen on a bulky phone that won't fit in their pocket. It might not be the majority, but it's more than a small niche.

Unlike the Plus which is now obsolete, there is still a market for a capably-spec'd or even Pro-level iPhone Mini. Sadly, the beancounters are in charge and they aren't smart enough to realise that market trends, as spouted by their beloved market research firms, aren't always reliable and customers are fickle. Apple are just another quantitative company these days, when they used to be all about the qualitative.

 

[nottorp]

simply never sold well enough for the company to continue offering it

A couple million devices is too little for Apple now. Asses.

The Mini actually had an obvious user base though, kids/teens (including mine) and those who don't like/want/need a massive screen on a bulky phone that won't fit in their pocket.

Pocket? If you ask my wife, she doesn't want anything bigger than the 12 mini *in her purse*.