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I ran an original SE for a couple of years in the appropriate time frame, and I always wondered, where's the rest of the screen? Those wasted top and bottom bezels were a total loss. Imagine what people would say if Apple introduced such a format today.

In 2026 large top and bottom bezels would be an anachronism. However, a phone with dimensions about the size of an OGSE and an edge-to-edge screen would be well received by many (and not well by many others...but tell me something that wouldn't?).
 
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The iPhone mini is not a phone for someone that is always on the phone. The battery can last more than a day if it isn't used for frivolous tasks. I use my phone primarily for essential tasks, for me, that includes calls and texts, weather, maps, take photos and videos and some other random apps. I don't use any social media. I don't read nor send email from the phone nor watch videos. My screen time is usually around one to two hours per day. It goes up to six to eight hours per day when I'm on vacation. When I expect increased usage, I carry a 5000mAh wireless charger with me and that can charge the phone two or three times from 20 to 80%. My battery health is currently at 78%. The phone still lasts the day for me. I will get the battery replaced when it doesn't last me the day.

I'n the last two or three decades, I have noticed that people would rather spend time on their phone or other devices, including headphones, rather than interact in person that is in front of them, which I think is unhealthy because people are becoming less socialized. It seems the priority is for the device and information that comes from their devices rather than a person that is present. I find these people are easily distracted, less focused and not very sociable.
 
Ideally the Color Filters option could be set on a per-app basis (e.g. I would leave Camera, Photos, and maybe Messages in regular color)
You can already do this.
Settings>Accessibility>Per-App Settings.
You can pretty much use this to set any accessibility feature to be only enabled and disabled within certain apps.
 
wow, at least 2 or 3 people are sure to marvel at a collection of obsolete cell phones.

the mini was the best phone for me for a few years. if the battery didn't go down 2-3% just by turning the screen on to send a couple texts, i'd still use it (ios 18, 100% bh). buying it in 2026 is silly, but i'm pretty sure i also recall reading one of op's posts about carrying his 10 year old SE in a ziploc bag so i digress.

spend the extra couple hundred on a 16e or 17 and revisit making another confirmation bias thread in 8 years.
VVVVVV_MR.png
 
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You can already do this.
Settings>Accessibility>Per-App Settings.
You can pretty much use this to set any accessibility feature to be only enabled and disabled within certain apps.

For some reason Color Filters aren't offered under Per-App settings. Most if not all the other Display & Text Size settings are listed there but not Color Filters. At least on my iPhone 13 Mini running iOS 18.7.3. One of the AI bots said this is because Color Filters happen in the rendering stack where it can't be offered on a per-app basis. No idea if the latter is true. It also said the limitation holds through all current iPhone models, and I have no quick way of checking that either.

The suggested workaround is to create a side-button tripple click shortcut to toggle the Color Filter setting off and on.
 
The iPhone mini is not a phone for someone that is always on the phone. The battery can last more than a day if it isn't used for frivolous tasks.
No, it cannot. "Frivolous" or not, the battery will need to be charged more than one time daily, usually you’d have to recharge it 2-3 times a day with normal tasks nowadays. I speak from experience.
 
No, it cannot. "Frivolous" or not, the battery will need to be charged more than one time daily, usually you’d have to recharge it 2-3 times a day with normal tasks nowadays. I speak from experience.
It's Sunday evening where I am. My phone was charged for three hours in the morning and it is currently at 75%. The next time I will charge the phone is Monday evening or Tuesday morning. And this is with 78% battery health. My experience. 🤷
Screenshot_20260104_202147_Photos.jpg
 
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For some reason Color Filters aren't offered under Per-App settings. Most if not all the other Display & Text Size settings are listed there but not Color Filters. At least on my iPhone 13 Mini running iOS 18.7.3. One of the AI bots said this is because Color Filters happen in the rendering stack where it can't be offered on a per-app basis. No idea if the latter is true. It also said the limitation holds through all current iPhone models, and I have no quick way of checking that either.

The suggested workaround is to create a side-button tripple click shortcut to toggle the Color Filter setting off and on.
Ah you are correct.
You might be able to do it with a mix of shortcuts and automations, I haven’t tried that.
 
It's Sunday evening where I am. My phone was charged for three hours in the morning and it is currently at 75%. The next time I will charge the phone is Monday evening or Tuesday morning. And this is with 78% battery health. My experience. 🤷View attachment 2593318
Well, with all due respect, I think that your usage is not common of the usage most people have today. My current iPhone’s battery is like twice the size of yours, yet, with what I’d call "normal" usage, I couldn’t make it last for two whole days.

Well, maybe if I’d let it got from 100 to 0, but I’d never do that because it affects the battery’s longevity.
 
For some reason Color Filters aren't offered under Per-App settings. Most if not all the other Display & Text Size settings are listed there but not Color Filters. At least on my iPhone 13 Mini running iOS 18.7.3. One of the AI bots said this is because Color Filters happen in the rendering stack where it can't be offered on a per-app basis. No idea if the latter is true. It also said the limitation holds through all current iPhone models, and I have no quick way of checking that either.

The suggested workaround is to create a side-button tripple click shortcut to toggle the Color Filter setting off and on.

You can set color filters to turn on and off per app with shortcuts. Sometimes I'll set my phone to grayscale in everything except photos and camera, and it'll auto change when they open, then change back when closed.
 
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No, it cannot. "Frivolous" or not, the battery will need to be charged more than one time daily, usually you’d have to recharge it 2-3 times a day with normal tasks nowadays. I speak from experience.

I can also speak from experience as I have my iPhone 13 Mini right here. Yesterday was a bit heavier day for me so I ended up using 50% (81% -> 31%) of the battery in 24 hours. Normally it takes 36-40 before it drops that much. However, I don't recall ever charging more than once in a day outside of the period immediately after iOS updates. Note that my Battery Health is 90% for whatever that's worth (as I've noted elsewhere, I don't think it's a very reliable number).

Clearly the battery doesn't have to be charged more than once a day daily for some people or 2-3 times a day with
"normal tasks". While I know my usage is lighter than most, my tasks are normal. I never constrain myself from doing something on my phone because of the battery.

Also note from a theoretical perspective that the iPhone 13 Mini's battery is 75% of the iPhone 13's. If the difference between an iPhone 13 and a 13 Mini is 2-3x more recharges per day, it's not due to rated battery capacity. Maybe they used fewer cells and so its voltage drops faster than the regular and so its effective capacity under load is lower. Or maybe the Mini's display (highest DPI at the time and since) uses more energy. I am sure there are engineers at Apple who know the situation in detail but of course they can't say and we can only speculate.

In the meantime, some people will definitely need a phone with the capacity of a Max and some people won't. Hopefully each gets what they want.
 
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You can set color filters to turn on and off per app with shortcuts. Sometimes I'll set my phone to grayscale in everything except photos and camera, and it'll auto change when they open, then change back when closed.

Ah that works thank you! Haven't played enough with Shortcuts and didn't realize you could make Automations trigger a script on every app open and close and that Set Color Filter On/Off is an easy action to script.

For others trying this out for the first time, just don't do what I did and create your automations backwards and automatically open the Camera app every time you open Shortcuts...it will do just as instructed with no way to fix. Had to delete the app to delete the automation and redownload Shortcuts to undo that catch-22.
 
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It is not the same thing but it’s time to move on. If price is not an issue ofc.
I agree. The 16e will be a better overall experience, a brand new phone, and last for a much longer time than a 13 mini.

that picture does make the difference look significant, but the 16e is only 0.6" taller, 0.28" wider, and almost the exact same thickness. The 16e also has an 87.24% screen to body ratio compared to 84.66% with the 13 mini, meaning that extra physical size is getting even more screen area than you might think.

Then, if OP's hopes are answered, and Apple comes out with a smaller phone in 2-3 years, just trade in the 16e and get a solid return on the new mini (I seriously doubt this will happen).
 
That is part of it. When I'm at home, it is on airplane mode/wifi calling. I do this manually, but it could probably be automated.
not to mention, when home you have other means at your disposal, tablet, pc, tv, etc.

some people just cant put their phones down.
 
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It's Sunday evening where I am. My phone was charged for three hours in the morning and it is currently at 75%. The next time I will charge the phone is Monday evening or Tuesday morning. And this is with 78% battery health. My experience. 🤷View attachment 2593318
and for my next trick, my water bottle will stay full if i never drink from it.
 
It's Sunday evening where I am. My phone was charged for three hours in the morning and it is currently at 75%. The next time I will charge the phone is Monday evening or Tuesday morning. And this is with 78% battery health. My experience. 🤷View attachment 2593318
Try and get the battery changed if it’s at 78% Macinto, you will get random shutdowns as it gets worse.
 
thx for all of the useful replies. i'm mulling it over. i have handled the 17 at the Apple store. i do not, nor anticipate, doing heavy computing work on an iphone. typical wide range of activity, like texting, email, cloud access, music (will miss the built in headphone jack, don't like wireless too much), pics and video, calling. i started out with a 4s, then went with the SE. Actually purchased a "new" SE space grey 128 several months ago. perfect condition, 100% battery. I am a little rough with my phones, and even with a screen saver and had case managed to crack the screen (probably had it in my back pocket with keys or something and sat on it).

i really don't want to spend $500-$800 on a phone. esp. a new one. i tend to buy used cars with enough wear/tear that i'm not troubled by more wear and tear. i felt a mini would keep costs down, and if damaged wouldn't bother me tremendously. i see some used mini's have been upgraded to iOS26, some are on 18. A battery costs $90 at Apple. I'd like to find an excellent 256 gb with box for $200 and have Apple store change the battery. with care, i would probably be good for 2-3 more years. maybe by then Apple will come to it's senses and put out a beautiful small phone.
the 17 is an impressive phone, easily best price/performance from apple in years. The performance gap between a 17/13 is substantial not to mention the 120hz display, starting 256GB storage, battery performance/management and many other gains. You can get a usb-c adapter for wired headphones. The latest phones have more durable screens by the way - reviewers were even impressed with some saying a screen protector isn't as necessary anymore.

But if you love the 13 mini's form factor enough to put aside its outdated hardware, go for it since there's not a lot life left on it. I also wouldn't hold my breath waiting for apple to make a small phone.
 
You can get a usb-c adapter for wired headphones
This has been mentioned several times in this thread. I'd like to add that there are a lot of headphone options that have a usb-c plug rather than 3.5mm. The Apple earpods with usb-c are great and can be found for $10-20.
 
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I can't fulfill the purpose of the thread because I love my iPhone 13 Mini. That said, I'm ready to update as soon as there is an iPhone the same size or smaller. Bring it on! Until then.... I have my first 13 Mini plus a spare (refurb). Already feels huge compared to my favorite 5S of yore.

This has been mentioned several times in this thread. I'd like to add that there are a lot of headphone options that have a usb-c plug rather than 3.5mm. The Apple earpods with usb-c are great and can be found for $10-20.
I at first bought a couple of 3.5mm to lightning adapters (no USB-C on the iPhone Mini 13) for my existing headphones and they were great. Then I thought oh, I'll just buy some Lightning headphones, sweet! After using them, I wouldn't do that again. I mean, plugging them into the phone is great, but then I'll want to use them with my MBP and.... oh.... wrong pair.

Actually, now that I type that, if one has a phone with USB-C and plugs headphones into that, can they then also plug headphones into a USB-C port on a newer Macbook? (Guessing not? But?)
 
Actually, now that I type that, if one has a phone with USB-C and plugs headphones into that, can they then also plug headphones into a USB-C port on a newer Macbook? (Guessing not? But?)
Absolutely, USB-C headphones should work on both. 👍🏻
 
I at first bought a couple of 3.5mm to lightning adapters (no USB-C on the iPhone Mini 13) for my existing headphones and they were great. Then I thought oh, I'll just buy some Lightning headphones, sweet! After using them, I wouldn't do that again. I mean, plugging them into the phone is great, but then I'll want to use them with my MBP and.... oh.... wrong pair.

Actually, now that I type that, if one has a phone with USB-C and plugs headphones into that, can they then also plug headphones into a USB-C port on a newer Macbook? (Guessing not? But?)

My solution was Airpods.

But yes USB-C headphones will work on PCs. The USB-C connector houses a USC DAC that is recognized as a soundcard device.
 
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