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

The 13 mini always immediately sells out whenever they’re available on Apple's refurbished page. I’m sure they have the numbers on how many minis are currently active. Unfortunately, I’m sure someone ran the numbers and concluded it's still not worth it to make more.

I ordered mine a week ago and almost sent it back, thinking of continuing to use my Apple Watch Ultra as my "mini phone." But I value the iPhone mini's size too much to get rid of it now. Maybe that's what Apple wants, for us to use a cellular Apple Watch, who knows?

I’ll hold on to this 13 mini until it's obsolete or I find something new worth upgrading to, an iPhone or not.
 
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sw1tcher said:
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.

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Yeah, I know that technology is better at the cheap end now than it was in 2020, that's how technology advances typically work. :p

I wanted a smaller phone though, so price and features would have been a secondary factor in my decision if I got the 12 mini compared to an SE (or, if one didn't exist at all at the time).

Personally, I don't even like the physical size of the SE (or the 6 I was upgrading from when I got it). I have nearly dropped or actually dropped this thing way more than I ever dropped my 6th gen iPod touch when I used it every day.

Either way, I am going to end up buying a 16e because that's unfortunately the best option for me now, despite the price increase from the previous SE and the size difference. I'll get nearly 3x the RAM and all that, and battery life will be great. Let's just hope I don't drop it. :p
 
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I loved my 12 mini. Verizon offered me more than I paid for it if I upgraded to an iphone 15 pro, so I took the offer..
 
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The mini has a group of loyal followers, but the problem is it’s a very small group. I don’t think the mini will ever be a serious contender till they figure out how to give it realistic all day battery life.

Small phones just don’t sell. Apple released the mini then realized that. They kept it going for a few years just to see if it would pick up in sales, but that never happened.
 
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This isn't our first rodeo.

The iPhone 5s came out in 2013. The iPhone 12 mini came out in 2020. "Mini" fans are used to lengthy droughts. If the next one comes out in 2028, that would be no longer than the last drought, but unlike my 5s at this point in its lifecycle, my 13 mini is still going strong.

To be clear: I used an iPhone 11 for two years after my 5s died, and while I understand the appeal of that form factor, it just isn't for me. To me, the iPhone shines when you let it be the smaller, more personal device it was meant to be from the very start. Let the iPads and Macs do the heavy lifting for "two-handed tasks" that demand your attention—they're better at them anyway!—and let the iPhones take care of the smaller "one-handed tasks" that you want to finish quickly so you can get back to living your best life/in the moment—iPhones are best-in-class at handling them!

I'll eventually need to replace my 13 mini, of course, but as things stand today, Apple is more likely to lose me to one of the following than see another iPhone sale from me:
1. A dumb phone + Apple Watch
2. An Android or open source phone (there are no decent mini options that I've seen though, so...)

Otherwise, my only other hopes are an end to the drought, a foldable that somehow fits the bill for one-handed use (not holding my breath), or the launch of the mythical Apple Glasses that make phones obsolete (yes, please, but I'm REALLY not holding my breath).
 
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ghanwani said:
Apple's best design days were in the past. There is no future to look forward to.

Buying an Apple product now is like visiting a dentist. You know it's going to hurt, but you do it because there's no choice.
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Agreed, Apple has lost its way. We bought our first iPhone because it really was a step forward at the time (remember Steve's introduction of the first iPhone?), we got the next model because it was a step up in design and performance, the hardware then began to stagnate but we stayed with iPhones for iOS, but now? There's no innovation in hardware at all, and the SW updates are limited to changing the design of icons and other mindless trivia. (Don't mention AI.) A small phone with the power of a large screen Pro .... or better, more power and longer battery life ... requires real innovation, not incremental development, and Apple just do not know how to do this now. Their product meetings focus on what to drip-feed us fools in the next update for the maximum profit for Apple.
 
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Oh No. I am an iPhone 12mini user and love the weight and the fact that it is still good enough and contains the tech for everything I need (NFC for payments/opening my car, MagSafe, Wireless Charging).
At the moment, battery health is at 87% but I’ll definitely have it replaced with battery #3. I’m not a power user though, as I have a PC Screen in front of me anyway.
If anything similar to the Asus Zenfone 9 would come along in say the next two years I am tempted to even switch to Android just to still have a small pocketable phone. Apple, do you want that? 😀
 
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I don’t think anyone seriously thought another Mini was coming out soon, not even small phone fans.
But no one, not Gurman nor Apple themselves, will ever be able to squash our desire nor silence our cries for a small phone! Small phone 4eva!!
 
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Expos of 1969 said:
So the folks who have them got them even though they did not want them. And Apple gave them for free as they were not being sold. Got it. Any more odd statements on this topic?
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Amusing. You know very well that Apple didn't give them out for free, nor that I was implying such, nor for that manner being literal statement that nobody was buying them but yet you chose to extrapolate such from my post :rolleyes:
 
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Kiwamu said:
Well, let’s hope they still offer battery replacement when mine is due. Gonna hold onto my 13 mini for dear life then…
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Just wait til Tim’s gone - don’t judge the next CEO from this present one.
Much can happen....
 
osta.doc said:
It’s is funny how many people get irritated at those that want a Mini, but nobody seems to complain about those that want the Pro Max version.

If you get frustrated about someone wanting a Mini, why?

Wouldn’t it be nice if everyone could purchase what they so choose? I think so.
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It's not that people (me anyway) are irritated at those who want a Mini, it is the constant whining and posting about the Mini in nearly every single article on MR that is annoying. There could be a MR article on why Steve Jobs always wore turtlenecks and sure enough people would comment about how they are so upset that there isn't a new Mini coming out. It is high time to let it go.
 
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They can make a new mini with modern battery tech if they wanted to.

A new mini can come about with more miniaturization of hardware or consolidation of multiple parts into one.

A one handed phone is still a worthy pursuit.

They just mad because using a mini phone is really about minimizing active time with a screened device.
 
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