The iPhone 13 mini is dead, leaving small phone lovers in a lurch

3 years ago by fne8w2ah to c/apple_enthusiast

One-handed phones are a dying breed. It makes sense, but it's also a bummer.
avater 48 points 3 years ago

fuck you apple, I will use the mini until it dies and then I will replace its fucking battery and will continue to use it! Never ever will I buy another bigger phone than the mini.

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Pechente 22 points 3 years ago

I'm reading a lot of this and most of my friends got the mini. I wonder why it didn't sell well? Seems like a lot of tech enthusiasts actually care about one-handed usability – but nobody else cares.

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superkret 31 points 3 years ago
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pavnilschanda 20 points 3 years ago

That seems to be the case: Ars Technica, Reddit, even this forum, are in favor of the minis. But the thing is most of us are tech enthusiasts who'd rather use our computers and tablets for a larger screen over the iPhone, so most of the population who would be drawn to the minis are concentrated there.

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spiritedpause 11 points 3 years ago

The common complaints i’ve read are that it had mediocre battery life and the screen felt cramped.

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bob_wiley 6 points 3 years ago
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HidingCat 2 points 3 years ago

Never thought I'd see someone call an Apple product lineup bloated. xD

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Elcapitan786 1 point 3 years ago

I disagree, the regular 14 massively outsold the plus. The regular 12 and 13 were also the most sold of each year as well.

14 overall wasn’t as popular this year as the pro versions though.

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bob_wiley 0 points 3 years ago
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HidingCat 2 points 3 years ago

Not me, count me as an enthusiast who wants bigger phones. My ideal is a 2340x1080 screen at 6.7" or even 6.8".

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randomaccount43543 39 points 3 years ago

iPhone mini gang forever 🤟

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BrokebackHampton 20 points 3 years ago

iPhone mini lovers 🤝 iPad mini enthusiasts

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davepleasebehave 2 points 3 years ago

what can I do with my iPad mini that has stopped because the os is out of date?

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ChaoticNeutralCzech 19 points 3 years ago

I have big hands and I still like 5" phones. Why does nobody seem to offer them at a good price point?

I may need to get an Unihertz Atom L.

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Virkkunen 9 points 3 years ago

Because those phones don't sell. People that want small phones are generally a small group of tech enthusiasts, and those are not nearly enough to drive companies to design smaller phones

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Kichae 10 points 3 years ago

Capitalism: Where you have the freedom to choose to buy whatever you want, so long as it is what everyone else is buying, too.

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ChaoticNeutralCzech 2 points 3 years ago

My sister is definitely not a tech enthusiast and she still wanted a new sub-$400 phone she could use with one hand (even if it compromised thinness) and that had a 3.5mm jack and a good camera. After an extensive search, I needed to fail her one-hand requirement.

I’ll wait for the Unihertz Atom L to come to the second-hand market but I’m afraid its users will be too happy with it to pass it on.

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sparky1337 4 points 3 years ago

The mini’s only ever accounted for single digit sales percentages, so they never made any sense to sell once the terrible sales were realized.

And then there was the generally mediocre user experience. It just puts a bad image on iPhone as a whole so apple is quick to drop it. I’m surprised they released a 13 mini, but there must have been some sort of break even they wanted to achieve.

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ChaoticNeutralCzech 1 point 3 years ago

Small phones don't need to have a worse UX, a 16:9 5" screen, considered small by modern standards, is still wide enough for a one- or two-thumb keyboard. They just need to be thicker for the same performance and battery life, which is a sacrifice Apple didn't want to make but Unihertz did. They basically integrated the corners and bezel of a rubber case (which most people would buy anyway) and instead of wasting the rear space on another layer, they filled it with the battery. Also, comfortable bezels, large tactile buttons, inherent waterproofness (IP68 even with headphone jack!) could make the Unihertz Atom L’s UX pretty good. It is also very powerful for the price point and display resolution so I think it will not become obsolete anytime soon, assuming Android 11 will continue to be supported or you can install one of the existing custom ROMs.

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fosforus 16 points 3 years ago
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0xeb 16 points 3 years ago

Such a shame, I think mini series were just the right size for me

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Rubanski 14 points 3 years ago

I know it's no iPhone, but for all the Android small phone lovers out there, I can really recommend the Xperia series. Small package, headphone jack, SD card slot, decent camera and water resistant

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GrayBoltWolf 3 points 3 years ago

I love the Xperia line but even the 5 series is almost an inch taller than the iPhone mini. It’s massive by comparison.

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DirigibleProtein 11 points 3 years ago

Works fine for me. I'll keep using it until it no longer receives updates, just like I did with my 2016 SE.

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drexy_rexy 6 points 3 years ago

I assume they will roll another one out in a few years, I think everyone who buys a small phone hangs on to it for a long time. Before I bought a 13 mini my previous phone was the original SE (also small) so obviously I'm not upgrading every year.

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bob_wiley 6 points 3 years ago
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drexy_rexy 5 points 3 years ago

Let us all know the next time you upgrade so we know it's coming then :P

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bob_wiley 3 points 3 years ago
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HidingCat 4 points 3 years ago

That'd make sense, since it's only a small group of people who'll get it. Probably a phone they'll release every 3 years or so.

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drexy_rexy 3 points 3 years ago

It was 4 years between the original SE and the 12 mini, they released the 13 mini right away but I think that might have been because battery issues with the 12. Maybe the ghost of Steve Jobs begins to haunt Cupertino after a few years of Apple not releasing a smaller phone

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TagMeInSkipIGotThis 2 points 3 years ago

I'm still running an iPhone 8; my partner's broke so she upgraded to the 13 mini about 6 months ago, and now I have regrets that I didn't as well.

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gabe 5 points 3 years ago

It makes me so sad. As a certified short king it makes me sad that I'm gonna have to deal with the annoyance of giant phones in my little baby hands again sooner rather than later as it's no longer supported......

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stagen 5 points 3 years ago

I'll keep my iPhone 13 Mini for as long as I can. After that, perhaps I'll look for an alternative phone to iPhones. Thought about biting the bullet and getting myself a 15, but I'll be honest, it feels like it's going to be a point of regret for me.

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Mcballs1234 2 points 3 years ago
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Eggyhead 1 point 3 years ago

I went from a 5S (first phone) to a X, to a 12 mini. The "standard" size still feels like the outlier to me. However, my eyes aren't getting any better, and some apps don't bother to scale as well on a mini, so I don't think I'll mind ending up with a slightly larger phone in the future. I want to wait until the non-pro iPhone lineup gets the ability to take "spacial video" first, though. I think that's a feature I'd make frequent use of.

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obinice 1 point 3 years ago

There are many good small phones from other companies, those small phone lovers aren't exactly left in the lurch, they've got options, thankfully.

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psycho_driver 1 point 3 years ago

I'll probably be gang buttraped by the Apple people but I heard the new (and last) Zenfone is nice and compact.

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Deceptichum 11 points 3 years ago

I’m on my first Apple phone since a lifetime of Android. I’m really enjoying my mini, iOS is kinda a fun novel experience and I’m utterly sick of Google and their shutting down of every new service they introduce after a year or two.

I’m hoping they try another release in another few years when I go to upgrade.

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iCarlosPro 5 points 3 years ago path: 0 3388300 3388939 3389069, hotness: undefined, score: 5, children: 0
DirigibleProtein 7 points 3 years ago path: 0 3388300 3389180, hotness: undefined, score: 7, children: 1
hatter 3 points 3 years ago

That's pretty much the same size as an iPhone 15 Pro. Not even close to the size of the mini.

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dontwakethetrees 4 points 3 years ago

Honestly the first android phone in years that’s caught my attention and if I hadn’t just gotten a new battery for my 12 mini I would’ve greatly considered the Zenfone.

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bob_wiley 1 point 3 years ago
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