A lot of my old devices have mini connectors, they work, as does micro. I think when the original iphone was released they just wanted something thinner, anticipating future thin smart phones.
- MostApple users want larger screens, which means larger phones; or
- Small Apple phones are not small enough, so there's no point.
About the second point, that's where I am. I've been looking forward to a USB-C iPhone Mini. That was until I actually tried to use a Mini. It's smaller than the regular size iPhone, but still very hard to use single-hand as I have small hands. I want something the size of the iPhone 5. The Mini is just not small enough to make the small screen worth it.
I’m not sure why the Author makes the assertion that Apple stopped making small phones. For the iPhone 12 mini and 13 which was the premium product they just didn’t sell enough to justify the model itself while social media was clamoring for this model and Apple tried two iterations .
Also the new iPhone 15 pros are lighter than the previous models and have features that justify it such as a fully functional usbc port that while it’s only USB 3 it can function with a wide verity of dongles to get Ethernet and external media recording so you can not rely only the local amount of storage on the phone.
I don't think that's happened in practice. If anything in recent times the smallest phones are getting bigger, and truly small phones (like the iPhone minis) no longer exist.
The iPhone mini was so crippled it was a waste of money. When I say I want a smaller phone, I mean I want a smaller version of the same phone. Not one with shitty components and artificially disabled hardware.
Making something that’s easy to take apart often makes it bigger, because interfaces need to be modularized. I’ve never needed to open one of my iPhones and would not want them 1mm thicker to be repairable.
One theory for the iPhone mini's lack of success is people currently equate an expensive phone as a somewhat larger device (but not huge). The iPhone mini looks a bit like an old iPhone 5 from a distance. Paying a premium for something that looks like what everyone already has two or three of in their junk drawer is a tough trade-off for many people. The longer battery life then becomes the rational anchor.
In any case, I certainly hope they make a smaller devices again in 4-6 years.
I have still have a iPhone 4/S for this exact reason. Surely given the huge competetion in this market one supplier would think there is a viable niche in going small.
Apple tried to bring small phones back and not that many people bought the mini relative to the regular size iPhone. Other than a few attempts by android phone manufacturers the iPhone 13 mini will probably be the best small phone made.
Objectively he’s right and there’s a reason the iPhone mini was discontinued. The demand for mini phones is niche but very loud online. It isn’t economical to support a mainstream product for the handful of people who are actually willing to pay for that specific niche feature point.
Kinda like headphone ports and microSD slots on android phones. Are there models that do this? Yes! Is anyone willing to pay more for it? No! But they are very very loud online about it.
There do exist smaller android phones as well, just like a headphone port nothing is stopping you from buying one instead of complaining on the internet!
I use the smallest iPhone and the biggest iPad, just because I feel they are the best form factors for my needs. A friend of mine would love to be able to use only an iPad mini, if only he could send and receive phone calls.
I don’t upgrade because there is nothing wrong with these devices. And they have a jack :)
My mistake; I made the assumption the Mini would be smaller
Still, the point remains that lots of people are rocking an iPhone older than the XS (the 9 came out at the same time as the X) and would have these same problems
I've just bought one of the new iPhone SE models specifically because it still has a 3.5mm jack as well as 20% better battery life than the large iPhone 6 models it shares its internals with.
Ever larger and thinner simply does not make sense. The whole point of a mobile phone is that they are robust, portable and practicable and both the above trends are acting against those purposes.
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