My wife as an example uses a lot of social media, tick tock, instagram etc, takes a lot of photos and videos and edits the videos for insta. Uses the selfie camera like a mirror. Scours fashion sites for bargains. Syncs her work emails to her phone and now uses chat GPT a lot for work. This takes up a lot of battery power and so the larger the phone the better. Even still with her Galaxy S22 Ultra with a 5000 mh battery she needs to constantly recharge her phone!!!
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Other Will we see an iPhone 13 mini sized iPhone again?
- Thread starter Silly John Fatty
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
In 2027 perhaps.
Resist with the 12 and 13 mini or buy something else, not even updating the Apple Watch anymore.
I'm pretty sure I won't buy another iPhone after the 13 mini, and as a result I won't upgrade the Apple Watch anymore. Rather I buy an iPad mini, if I really have to.
I wanted nothing more than a 5.8' mini-pro, and make it thicker than the rest of the lineup.
Last edited:
Never (or an iPhone SE 1 size phone, or an iPhone 4 size phone). In Asia, where most of the profits are, big phones are in demand since they serve as a person's sole computer. In the west, most people have a computer, and a phone is a secondary device.
My opinion: The 13 Mini is meant to hold us over until the first foldable iPhone. That will likely be the next “small” iPhone, if only in footprint when closed. For phones really good for one-handed use, it’s going to be tough sledding moving forward.
And therein we find a seeming paradox. If most of the profits are indeed in Asia, why would not people want to get something with a bigger screen or more capable OS to complement their phones? Even a baseline iPad, which is also cheaper than most big screen phones and certainly big iPhones, can offer us a much better productivity with its split-screen. For now phones still remain on-the-go communication devices. I mean if you can watch a video on a 10”+ screen vs 6.5”, which size would you go for? I personally want to see it on as big screen as possible. Sure, we can hook an iPhone up to a TV via an adapter, but then it just becomes extra cumbersome.
Fair point, for many it might not be that the don't necessarily want a smaller phone, they just don't want the compromises that come with it. I do hear people say all the time on this forum that they would buy a Pro Mini, but I think the only way to pull that off is to make the device much thicker, which might sounds like a decent compromise, but it would ultimately still be a compromise when it comes to portability and weight without the benefit of a larger screen.
I hope so. I say this as a small phone lover. Currently rocking an iPhone SE (2022).
But I don’t think the mini is coming back any time soon. Never say never. But not soon.
But I don’t think the mini is coming back any time soon. Never say never. But not soon.
Well, the poster I was replying to was saying:
So if most of the profits are in Asia, why not treat oneself to a bigger screened device?
If most people in Asia can afford one computing device only due to its high cost, however, then, logically, iPhone 14 Plus should have sold there massively well.
My personal take on Asian countries preferring larger phones is that larger screens make it better for both reading & writing.
I don't know if most of the profits are in Asia, but if they are, then it's because of the large populations there, not because they are better off overall (they aren't).
But cost probably isn't the only factor. It's also that there's less of a tradition of having a computer at home than in the West, and if you didn't grow up with it, you're less likely to see the benefits of using a different class of devices, versus the complication it brings of having to deal with multiple devices of varying mobility.
The reason is due to a far more sophisticated digital lifestyle in China vs. western countries. Some people think storing a digital driver's license on their iPhone is a new thing, but it's been standard for years. You pay your property taxes and view your child's report card on your phone. If you tried to pay cash anywhere instead of using WeChat Pay or Alipay, you would get strange looks. Live stream shopping is unheard of in the west but it's a $500B/year industry in China.
All of this means people spend a lot more time in front of their screen, hence the preference for larger displays. Not to mention much cheaper data rates and availability of 5G. You can't put an iPad in your pocket even if the display is very nice and comfortable.
The idea that they can afford only one computing device is silly. iPhone 14 Pro Max starts at the equivalent of US$1,400. If they can afford that, they can certainly afford a secondary PC desktop or notebook.
I get your point about using a phone as a digital hub, my “Western” iPhone 12 mini also does my banking, Apple Pay, serves as a POS for my client’s card payments and runs two phone lines (private & business). It also plays music, podcasts and audiobooks, navigates me on my drives via CarPlay, stores my transport tickets, pays for parking and supports a wild number of chatting platforms. However, as far as watching stuff goes, I do not like to go any lower than 11” and, ideally, bigger.
So when my 12 mini will need to be replaced, I will have several choices: get a 13 mini with some minimal improvements to what I already have or just bite it and get a standard iPhone 15, giving me Dynamic Island to play with, a USB-C port and a larger battery. So sitting on a fence right now, as I really like the portability of a mini and ability to easily use it one-handedly.
This might work for a very small group of power users, but not for general population. In my case, for example, Apple Watch would not be able to use a largest part of my essential apps, I would need to carry a magnifying glass and speak all my messages through. No camera and CarPlay either, so at least for the time being it is a hard pass.
Because then Apple will need to price that 5.4” really low and SE plus (6.1”) has already happened in a form of iPhone 12 still being sold by Apple. Fair enough, iPhone 12 runs A14 instead of A15-16, but who really cares?
I will be more interested to see if Apple still continue selling 13 mini once the 15 line is out.
Yes. Imho the new se in mini size would make more sense.
We don’t need half a dozen models from apple with 6.1“
If we go by what other brands are doing, and consider how Apple literally went in the complete opposite direction for the iPhone 14 line-up by (re?)introducing iPhones Plus for the first time since iPhones 8 Plus, then I'd bet you my bottom dollar that iPhones mini won't be coming back for many, many years, if ever.
Why?
A smaller smartphone, like a 12/13 mini, simply cannot meet the high levels of battery life that the average smartphone user in 2023 requires to get through a day.
-Go to any public space like a big café, mall, shopping area, park, college campus, and observe how most use their smartphones: Allways on, always checking, many taking photos, some live-streaming, recording TikTok videos, etc.
With current battery tech, iPhones mini simply cannot meet these high power consumption needs to the same extent that standard and Max/Plus size smartphones can.
As a result, iPhones mini don't sell well enough and thus won't come back.
Furthermore, there hasn't been a single small iPhone rumor since 13 mini and SE 2022 launched. SE 4th Gen has only been rumored as either a XR, 11 or 14 clone, all of which are 6.1" iPhones.
Sub 6.1" iPhones are dead.
Last edited:
I don’t know about that. Of course you’ll primarily see people using their phone who use it all the time. Those who don’t will seem less conspicuous. (I’m also in Europe, where things may be different.)