iPhone 13 mini The future of small iPhones

[bpeeps]

Apple should offer pro mini the same price as regular pro, some will buy the pro mini for the size alone. The reason I don’t mind getting the mini is because my spouse will always get the pro max, thus for family trip, we can always use hers to take the good pic n video. If I don’t have hers, I will have to choose for regular pro since I want the best camera available to me.

Battery tech would need advance overnight for a pro mini to be viable in any way. Battery life would be a considerable concern.

 

[tcatsninfan]

Battery tech would need advance overnight for a pro mini to be viable in any way. Battery life would be a considerable concern.

Yeah, I was thinking about this with regard to the Mini and SE. The A17 (next year's flagship chip for the iPhone 15 Pro & Pro Max) is meant to be based on 3nm architecture and will supposedly bring a pretty big jump in power reduction. If they release a Mini or SE with the A17 later, the size of the battery wouldn't be as much of a concern because it would use energy more efficiently than the A15 in the 13 Mini and SE 3rd Gen now.

 

[JPack]

Yeah, I was thinking about this with regard to the Mini and SE. The A17 (next year's flagship chip for the iPhone 15 Pro & Pro Max) is meant to be based on 3nm architecture and will supposedly bring a pretty big jump in power reduction. If they release a Mini or SE with the A17 later, the size of the battery wouldn't be as much of a concern because it would use energy more efficiently than the A15 in the 13 Mini and SE 3rd Gen now.

Most of the power in a smartphone is drawn by the display rather than the processor. If you look at why iPhone 13 performs well, it's not because of A15, but rather a larger battery in combination with more efficient OLED emitters.

When companies talk about new nodes reducing power, that is based on iso-performance meaning the same number of transistors. Apple always adds more transistors each year to increase performance, which washes out any power efficiency gains.

 

[subjonas]

Most of the power in a smartphone is drawn by the display rather than the processor. If you look at why iPhone 13 performs well, it's not because of A15, but rather a larger battery in combination with more efficient OLED emitters.

When companies talk about new nodes reducing power, that is based on iso-performance meaning the same number of transistors. Apple always adds more transistors each year to increase performance, which washes out any power efficiency gains.

Newer generations of Mini and SE seem to get better battery life than previous though.
But either way, yes bigger phones will always have bigger battery capacity which means better battery life. Even with the increase in screen size which uses more energy, it doesn’t seem to scale 1:1. There is extra battery for longer life, which can also be traded for more power intensive tasks that utilize more cores and whatnot, perhaps for things like ProRes or night portrait. So also extra battery space can be traded for other extra hardware like a bigger processor or a bigger camera module. And maybe more space for thermal capacity.
Although, as a strange counterpoint, the iPhone 13 is the same size as the 13 Pro, has the same processor except minus one gpu core, and has the inferior (I assume smaller) camera module, yet has shorter battery life than the Pro. Not sure why, unless Apple uses a smaller battery in the non-pro to save cost, despite it being able to fit a bigger one.
But all in all, this is just physics, which I accept even as someone who wants the best small phone possible. Small size means real world limitations. Although I’m sure there is some way(s) Apple could make the Mini more pro-like than it currently is without sacrificing significant battery life. It just can't be at the exact same level as the larger phones.

 

[JPack]

Newer generations of Mini and SE seem to get better battery life than previous though.
But either way, yes bigger phones will always have bigger battery capacity which means better battery life. Even with the increase in screen size which uses more energy, it doesn’t seem to scale 1:1. There is extra battery for longer life, which can also be traded for more power intensive tasks that utilize more cores and whatnot, perhaps for things like ProRes or night portrait. So also extra battery space can be traded for other extra hardware like a bigger processor or a bigger camera module. And maybe more space for thermal capacity.

Yes, the 13 mini has a 9% larger capacity battery and 12% for SE3 due to newer chemistry. When has a larger display, the chassis volume grows even more. This is why bigger devices have longer battery life relative to the display size.

Although, as a strange counterpoint, the iPhone 13 is the same size as the 13 Pro, has the same processor except minus one gpu core, and has the inferior (I assume smaller) camera module, yet has shorter battery life than the Pro. Not sure why, unless Apple uses a smaller battery in the non-pro to save cost, despite it being able to fit a bigger one.
But all in all, this is just physics, which I accept even as someone who wants the best small phone possible. Small size means real world limitations. Although I’m sure there is some way(s) Apple could make the Mini more pro-like than it currently is without sacrificing significant battery life. It just can't be at the exact same level as the larger phones.

iPhone 13 Pro actually has 5% smaller battery capacity than regular 13. As I mentioned before, much of the power consumption is not from the processor. It's the display and battery size. In this case, the better OLED emitters, LTPO, and VRR of the iPhone 13 Pro make it perform better.

 

[Jackbequickly]

If Apple comes out with Pro mini, I'll be the first in line. I want the pro camera but not interested with the bigger size & weight.

Are we talking ProMax Mini!

It would only have about a two hour battery life. I am afraid the chances are about as good as a few posters up from here wishing for two SIM card trays! LOL!

 

[9Benua]

Are we talking ProMax Mini!

It would only have about a two hour battery life. I am afraid the chances are about as good as a few posters up from here wishing for two SIM card trays! LOL!

2 hour battery life for adding another lens and a better Oled display, I call BS on that. Read the post above you.

 

[Jackbequickly]

2 hour battery life for adding another lens and a better Oled display, I call BS on that. Read the post above you.

‘LOL! There will never be such a thing . . . .

 

[9Benua]

‘LOL! There will never be such a thing . . . .

Yeah like iPhone with 2 simcard, eh? What a troll.

 

[Steve1947revees]

As a $2T company, Apple went in for 2 years into the small phone market. They had the entire market to themselves. Yet, Apple left the market without anybody copying or following. That should tell you a lot.

If you were a product manager walking into Tim Cook's office, would you ever want to re-enact failure of the 5.4-inch iPhone? And propose it be used for iPhone SE? It never reached economies of scale like 6.1-inch models either.

"People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. I’m actually as proud of the things we haven’t done as the things I have done. Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things." - Steve Jobs

Apple wants iPhone to be your camera, wallet, streaming video player, handheld gaming console, safety device, etc. Having a small iPhone is inconsistent with all those features. It doesn't match Apple's focus or their goal.

I’m an average male. I have an iPhone 12, 6 inch screen. Yes, size matters. Hope 4th gen SE is a mini. Don’t care for 6” and above. Apple had to realize not all of us are comfortable with 6” plus phones. That’s my 6” / 2 cents worth !!

 

[Andeddu]

I have solved the small phone battery issue. The SE1 only has a 1624mAh battery however this 4000mAh battery case allows for a total of 12-13 hours of screen on time which is more than anyone will ever need on any given day. The only downside is that the SE is now a thicc boi. 🤣