iPhone 13 mini What Will You Do Now iPhone mini Owners?

[klasma]

Are you sure about the display? In what way is it better?

I got a regular iPhone 17 to replace my 13 mini. First thing I noticed was how bad the display was on the new phone. A white background such as this text box veers wildly in colour – green, magenta – as I tilt the phone back and forth. My mini 13 display, side by side, has much less colour shift. The difference isn’t subtle.

There are significant differences between displays of the same iPhone model, due to different display panel suppliers (Samsung, LG, BOE), and sometimes also for panels from the same supplier, such as better or worse contrast and variations in color temperature. This is referred to as the “panel lottery” when buying an iPhone.

I had one mini with that green-magenta tilt shift. I also had two minis without it from a different panel supplier (as indicated by 3uTools), but one had significantly better contrast than the other despite being from the same panel supplier. I also measured visible differences in color temperature.

The iPhone 17 has a much better display in terms of advertised brightness, ProMotion, and AOD, plus the improved Ceramic Shield coating.

 

[splifingate]

Not an option right now.

Nothing new compares.

 

[Analog Kid]

I just don't see an option right now. Everything just keeps getting bigger and bigger. Big and thin isn't really a fit. I don't use my phone like others do, I guess. I don't obsessively look at it and interact with it. It's there on the rare occasion that I need it, it feeds map directions to my watch, if family texts or calls I can get it. I don't need a massive display for that.

 

[Moreplease]

“panel lottery”

An aware. Unfortunately don’t know which display my phones have.

The iPhone 17 has a much better display in terms of advertised brightness

It’s 1000 versus 800 nits. Photographers will understand that as one-third of a stop and recognise that that’s perceptually a very small difference.

And so it transpires in real life. Open Macrumors on my 13 mini and 17 and slide brightness to max and there is no significant difference in brightness. The 13 mini is brighter at an angle by about as much as it is dimmer straight-on, and both differences don’t practically matter.

The other brightness specs are HDR gimmicks that don’t affect overall display visibility in bright light.

ProMotion

Yes. Very nice for battery saving and viewing 24p content (films).

AOD

Useful but not a display quality issue.

plus the improved Ceramic Shield coating.

I hope that works because indeed my 13 mini has scratches.

But while we’re talking about coatings, I was astonished to see that even the display reflectivity has not changed much between my 13 mini and the 17.

We’re really stalling out on display tech here. All of my previous iPhones (at 4 or 5 year intervals) had huge jumps in display quality, especially contrast in high ambient light.

 

[klasma]

It’s 1000 versus 800 nits.

The 17 reaches 3000 nits max brightness in the sun. The 13 mini can be quite hard to read in the sun, even at 100% brightness. Also for those on the 12 mini, that one had only 625 nits, and the 800 nits of the 13 were a noticeable improvement. 800 to 1000 is almost the same factor.

There’s also the reduced minimum of 1 nit, which can be nice in full darkness.

I hope that works because indeed my 13 mini has scratches.

The iPhone screens of that time were very scratch-prone, unfortunately, compared to the iPhone SE1 and earlier. It’s likely that Apple traded off scratch resistance against shatter resistance for the larger screens. It seems that they now found a way to significantly improve scratch resistance (see the JerryRigEverything video of the Air) while keeping the shatter resistance.

But while we’re talking about coatings, I was astonished to see that even the display reflectivity has not changed much between my 13 mini and the 17.

Yes, the Samsung smartphones seem to be better at that.

 

[Neil J. Squillante]

Are you sure about the display? In what way is it better?

I got a regular iPhone 17 to replace my 13 mini. First thing I noticed was how bad the display was on the new phone. A white background such as this text box veers wildly in colour – green, magenta – as I tilt the phone back and forth. My mini 13 display, side by side, has much less colour shift. The difference isn’t subtle.

That’s a fair question. I was among those who documented the flawed display of the iPhone 12 series, including the 12 mini (“Yellowgate” though it was more off white). My hypothesis is that Apple could not send its QA engineers to China because of Covid. I skipped the 12 series but most people didn’t care and it sold well. Scratchgate will also be a nonissue.

I didn’t notice any flaws at the Apple Store yesterday but I was mostly focused on other factors. So I dropped in again today and looked at 4 iPhone Air models using websites with a lot of white space like Yahoo Finance. I also looked at Messages, which has a lot of white space in light mode. I analyzed the screens with brightness all the way up and also at my usual 33% or so. I’m pleased to report that the white is about as pure as it gets, identical on every model. The text also looks sharper but maybe that’s just the luxury of a larger display. The iPhone Air display is objectively better than the display on my 4 year old iPhone 13 mini. There’s no off white or yellow tint.

Reviewers seldom talk about the things that matter to me.

True. That’s why I mentioned document scanning likely improving with the 48 megapixel camera.

 

[Moreplease]

Well, the display quality of my regular iPhone 17 is honestly shocking to me.

I never do this, but I’m going to have to return this phone.

I can’t accept a big drop in display quality in a phone four years newer. What on earth?

I suggest mini 13 owners check the new iPhones carefully in a shop before buying one. I plan to compare the displays on a white web page in an Apple Store, viewing them at various angles.

But I can’t tolerate the size of the 17 Pro Max, and I think the 17 Pro has the same display as the regular iPhone 17 – that is, with big colour shifts as viewing angle changes, apparently. That leaves only the Air as an alternative, and on paper that phone isn’t ideal for me for a few reasons.

This sucks.

 

[vvvvvv]

Next level stuff.

Thoroughly enjoying the Air, especially the boosted brightness outdoors.

 

[TheRdungeon]

Reporting in as an ex hardcore mini owner (owned 3 13 minis) who is now using a 17 Pro. After a day or two of thinking it was way too heavy and large, I’m really warming to it now and loving the extra real estate, cameras, battery and speakers at minimum, and the performance is great. Have an ohsnap luxe 4 for when I want to use it one handed. Overall very happy with it

 

[TheRdungeon]

Well, the display quality of my regular iPhone 17 is honestly shocking to me.

I never do this, but I’m going to have to return this phone.

I can’t accept a big drop in display quality in a phone four years newer. What on earth?

I suggest mini 13 owners check the new iPhones carefully in a shop before buying one. I plan to compare the displays on a white web page in an Apple Store, viewing them at various angles.

But I can’t tolerate the size of the 17 Pro Max, and I think the 17 Pro has the same display as the regular iPhone 17 – that is, with big colour shifts as viewing angle changes, apparently. That leaves only the Air as an alternative, and on paper that phone isn’t ideal for me for a few reasons.

This sucks.

Look at the pro, mine has the G9N panel (top one from Samsung) and I haven’t seen any Pro that doesn’t have this panel. It seems like because the normal 17 shares the display with the pro they’ve given the best ones to the pro and the normal 17 is more of a mixed bag

 

[throAU]

I upgraded to 16 pro max.

Why?

Because if I have to deal with a phone that needs two hands, I may as well go large for the better battery life, etc.

And once you decide to go plus size, it was a slippery slope of wanting 256 GB standard, pro max being on sale locally, etc. to end up with one.

 

[Neil J. Squillante]

I'm the OP. I'm on day four with my new black 256 GB iPhone Air and have no regrets. It's the most striking design since the iPhone X. I shipped my iPhone 13 mini back to Apple today for $170. The iPhone mini was my last lightning device so I will no longer need that adapter.

I know some disagree but I feel like the iPhone mini has only two remaining strengths at this point — front pocketability and one-handed use. The iPhone Air feels better in a front pocket despite its height and width because of its thin depth. I think it was Joe Rossignol who predicted this. He was right. That leaves one-handed use. A MagSafe stand/mount at your desk, in your car, etc. provides one-handed use in places where you spend a lot of time.

The iPhone Air display is flawless and it's nice to have the extra vertical and horizontal space. There's no yellow tint like the iPhone 12 series had.

The biggest surprise is the speed. This is the longest I have gone between iPhones so I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Previously, I skipped only the 4 and 12 but otherwise upgraded annually. The A19 Pro would be great in that rumored low cost MacBook.

Scratchgate seems overblown. I'm not using a case and have been shuttling the iPhone Air between two MagSafe stands (Otterbox and Twelve South) without any scratches developing.

The speaker is fine in quiet environments. It's much louder than the Apple Watch for phone calls. I mostly use AirPods so to the extent it's an issue for some it's a non-issue for me. Every iPhone speaker struggles in noisy environments in my opinion.

I cannot yet comment on battery life. The iPhone Air got warm during setup but not since.

I feel like the iPhone Air is the true successor to the iPhone mini and am glad it arrived this year. I guess you could say that … love is in the Air.

 

[vvvvvv]

I'm the OP. I'm on day four with my new black 256 GB iPhone Air and have no regrets. It's the most striking design since the iPhone X. I shipped my iPhone 13 mini back to Apple today for $170. The iPhone mini was my last lightning device so I will no longer need that adapter.

I know some disagree but I feel like the iPhone mini has only two remaining strengths at this point — front pocketability and one-handed use. The iPhone Air feels better in a front pocket despite its height and width because of its thin depth. I think it was Joe Rossignol who predicted this. He was right. That leaves one-handed use. A MagSafe stand/mount at your desk, in your car, etc. provides one-handed use in places where you spend a lot of time.

The iPhone Air display is flawless and it's nice to have the extra vertical and horizontal space. There's no yellow tint like the iPhone 12 series had.

The biggest surprise is the speed. This is the longest I have gone between iPhones so I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Previously, I skipped only the 4 and 12 but otherwise upgraded annually. The A19 Pro would be great in that rumored low cost MacBook.

Scratchgate seems overblown. I'm not using a case and have been shuttling the iPhone Air between two MagSafe stands (Otterbox and Twelve South) without any scratches developing.

The speaker is fine in quiet environments. It's much louder than the Apple Watch for phone calls. I mostly use AirPods so to the extent it's an issue for some it's a non-issue for me. Every iPhone speaker struggles in noisy environments in my opinion.

I cannot yet comment on battery life. The iPhone Air got warm during setup but not since.

I feel like the iPhone Air is the true successor to the iPhone mini and am glad it arrived this year. I guess you could say that … love is in the Air.

wholeheartedly agree with every bit of this, though I rarely find myself needing two hands - just a little gymnastics on occasion.

 

[snipr125]

The iPhone Air in a regular screen size like 6.1”- 6.3” would have been the perfect replacement for the 13 mini imo.

 

[klasma]

The iPhone Air in a regular screen size like 6.1”- 6.3” would have been the perfect replacement for the 13 mini imo.

Not perfect, but maybe acceptable. The actual Air is too large (too wide), and not really lightweight compared to the mini. The 16e isn’t actually that far off from a smaller Air in terms of form factor.

 

[FeliApple]

I upgraded to 16 pro max.

Why?

Because if I have to deal with a phone that needs two hands, I may as well go large for the better battery life, etc.

And once you decide to go plus size, it was a slippery slope of wanting 256 GB standard, pro max being on sale locally, etc. to end up with one.

Yeah, I agree with this. When I had the 5s I was a “small phone fundamentalist”. Kind of unconvinced, I upgraded to the 6s. Six months later I got the 7+. Now I’m using the largest phone I’ve ever used, the 16 Plus.

With the 6s, my interest in small iPhones died and I never considered them again. Had I upgraded from the Xʀ to the 12 or 13 series, I wouldn’t have gotten the Mini. When I got used to the larger size I started valuing its advantages: the 5s’ battery life was very poor, even on its original iOS version, with anything remotely resembling moderate cellular use.

I was getting about 3 hours of SOT outdoors. Unusable. And I’m a very efficient user. When I got the 7+ on iOS 10 I remember thinking “this is the battery life a phone should have”. I was nowhere near killing it. I pretty much ended the days with 70% after four hours of SOT, but I had the headroom for heavy outdoor camera use without concerns.

Perhaps with my efficient usage the 13 Mini on iOS 15 would’ve been sufficient, as far as I recall it had Xs-like battery life, so about 9-10 hours of light SOT, but for really long, heavy days, I think it would’ve struggled. Once you get used to it always being enough, it’s tough to go back.

 

[geta]

I'm the OP. I'm on day four with my new black 256 GB iPhone Air and have no regrets. It's the most striking design since the iPhone X. I shipped my iPhone 13 mini back to Apple today for $170. The iPhone mini was my last lightning device so I will no longer need that adapter.

I know some disagree but I feel like the iPhone mini has only two remaining strengths at this point — front pocketability and one-handed use. The iPhone Air feels better in a front pocket despite its height and width because of its thin depth. I think it was Joe Rossignol who predicted this. He was right. That leaves one-handed use. A MagSafe stand/mount at your desk, in your car, etc. provides one-handed use in places where you spend a lot of time.

The iPhone Air display is flawless and it's nice to have the extra vertical and horizontal space. There's no yellow tint like the iPhone 12 series had.

The biggest surprise is the speed. This is the longest I have gone between iPhones so I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Previously, I skipped only the 4 and 12 but otherwise upgraded annually. The A19 Pro would be great in that rumored low cost MacBook.

Scratchgate seems overblown. I'm not using a case and have been shuttling the iPhone Air between two MagSafe stands (Otterbox and Twelve South) without any scratches developing.

The speaker is fine in quiet environments. It's much louder than the Apple Watch for phone calls. I mostly use AirPods so to the extent it's an issue for some it's a non-issue for me. Every iPhone speaker struggles in noisy environments in my opinion.

I cannot yet comment on battery life. The iPhone Air got warm during setup but not since.

I feel like the iPhone Air is the true successor to the iPhone mini and am glad it arrived this year. I guess you could say that … love is in the Air.

It will be a true successor to the iPhone Mini once it will be smaller (and lighter) with 5.4-5.8” screen and eliminate the camera hump.

 

[scrane]

I bought a green 13 Mini when they first came out. It still looks like new. I upgraded to a 15 Pro and kept it for two days before sending it back. I'm still on the original battery with 83%. I upgraded to ios 26 beta when it first became available and I am now happily on 26.0.1. The mini continues to be a tiny no drama powerhouse.

 

[ProbablyDylan]

I'm test driving an Air and I have to say I'm very impressed. It disappears into the pocket better than the Mini ever did. Only issue is one handed use but I fear I might be able to get used to using a phone with two hands again.

 

[klasma]

With the 6s, my interest in small iPhones died and I never considered them again.

For me it was the opposite. The iPhone 6 is what made me acutely aware that a smartphone can be too large. I was already ambivalent about the vertical expansion of the 5, but the width of the 6 was too much. Luckily the SE1 came out a bit later, and the mini was still smaller than the 6. I never struggled with battery before the mini. The SE1 was praised for its battery life when it came out. I blame the tech getting less power-efficient due to higher-bandwidth mobile data, features like Find My, and iOS getting less efficient in general.

 

[imdog]

Went to use the Air in store and it doesn't even "feel" thinner than the iPhone 6 for some reason. The iPhone 17 & Pro are very rounded on the edges compared to the 13, I hate that. They look very bulbous and bloated. The Air is ridiculously large, if it were the dimensions of the standard 17 there would maybe be 1% of me that would be tempted. But nah, even the iPhone 13 mini is comically large for a 'mini' phone as nobody without NBA player hands can even touch the top of the screen with their thumb one handed without completely readjusting their hand. Steve Jobs is rolling in his grave at this lack of ergonomics and portability.

I also think that large phones are a contributor to peoples compulsive phone addictions and endless scrolling. The larger the phone is the higher the profit margin, it's cheaper to produce things that aren't miniaturized as that is a true feat of engineering which the world rightfully recognized until recent years.

Do we have any evidence that the Apple flip phone will be small like the Galaxy Flip or Razr? I see people suggesting it'll be like two full sized iPhone Airs sandwiched together, God I hope not.

 

[vvvvvv]

I also think that large phones are a contributor to peoples compulsive phone addictions and endless scrolling.

Which is exactly why they’ll only continue to make large devices.

Content consumption and addiction = $$$.

 

[klasma]

Do we have any evidence that the Apple flip phone will be small like the Galaxy Flip or Razr? I see people suggesting it'll be like two full sized iPhone Airs sandwiched together, God I hope not.

It’s not a flip phone, it’s a book-style foldable. See the mockups here, with comparison to the mini, based on the leaked display dimensions: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/rumoured-iphone-fold-size-concept-drawing-and-renders.2456447/

The only mini-like aspect about that foldable is that it’s shorter than the mini. But it’s wider than even the Pro Max when folded, hence ill-suited for one-handed use, and its weight will likely be in the same ballpark as the Pro Max.

 

[Cassandle]

13 Mini user here. It’s been my favourite iPhone (with the XR, this replaced, in second place).

4 years is the longest I’ve kept an iPhone I think. I had not really considered upgrading because I prefer the small phone but the battery is becoming a severe limitation now. I’ll be upgrading to a base 17 in the next week or so. It’ll be sad to let this phone go but I’m resigned to it being the only option.

 

[klasma]

13 Mini user here. It’s been my favourite iPhone (with the XR, this replaced, in second place).

4 years is the longest I’ve kept an iPhone I think. I had not really considered upgrading because I prefer the small phone but the battery is becoming a severe limitation now. I’ll be upgrading to a base 17 in the next week or so. It’ll be sad to let this phone go but I’m resigned to it being the only option.

You could get the battery replaced, or even buy a new 13 mini (you can get new sealed-in-box units on eBay).