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What features do the mini iphones not have? I’m unsure they would even appeal to me or be necessary. Again I’m realizing how in the minority I am on this though haha.


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What sucks about the iPhone mini?

You won't get one, unfortunately, both because there's no motivation for Apple to make it, and because battery life would be an insurmountable issue, at least with current tech. The battery life in the Mini is already significantly inferior to the other iPhones in the line; Apple's only going to be willing to push that so far before it's an obviously-compromised product and they would just refuse to ship it.

Get the iPhone. Everything just works. I have the non mini 12. Its damn near as perfect as it’s going to get.

I'm fairly sure you're conflating the mini with the base model, and comparing it to the Pro. The Pro always has features which the base model lacks.

I don't remember there being any features, ever, which the mini was missing and the base model iPhone had. Might have missed it, but I'm going to need to see a link.


What about iPhone mini?

Yeah you can imagine two purposes for the mini:

1. Cheaper iPhone

2. You don’t want to carry a big iPhone and you have a Mac/iPad nearby anyway for anything complicated so a big phone is unnecessary.

The second case should motivate wanting eg their ‘pro’ cameras in the small phone but the first case motivates making it cheap and low-margin. You can also imagine a world where apple markets a mini phone as also being an optional companion to a bigger phone, but they already have the watch for that.


The mini line up is not “subpar.” There is utility in a smaller form factor that is equal to or greater than the the value of the better specs in a large form factor. If that weren’t true then everyone would be walking around with an iPad instead of an iPhone.

I'm really bummed there isn't a Mini - I'd be happy with getting one every third generation, even. For the size of my hands, the center-of-gravity is too high in the 6.1" phones, so I can't comfortably hold it with one hand.

You might be thinking of the iPhone SE, which is the budget offering that’s almost as small as the Mini and has lower-end specs.

My girlfriend liked the mini, but didn’t get it partially because it doesn’t feature the 3 cameras. As long as the mini is positioned as a down brand phone, even for technical reasons, some of the interested market is excluded

Not bad, I think the mini will be popular and I like the mag safe.

Still, this is my iPhone wish list:

- USB-C

- 120hz display

- face id AND in screen touch id

- better wireless charging

- dump the notch


The mini is inferior in some specs to other iPhones

I’m typing this on my iPhone 13 mini; saying it’s inferior to the rest of the iPhone 13 is an overstatement.

All of the core features are the same as they rest of the line.

Ironically it’s the largest iPhone I’ve owned, having upgraded from an iPhone 7 and a 6s before that.

There probably won’t be iPhone 14 mini, so I’m glad I was able to get this form factor before I had no choice.


Love my iphone 12 mini too. I was so disappointed when I found out they wouldn't be releasing mini versions anymore

People want a small phone, but if the mini costs like 10 android phones, they might just get an android phone.

Assuming that there is a fixed cost associated with the mini production line, and assuming they sales and service based revenue from mini users isn’t a lot, it doesn’t make financial sense to have the mini line.

Also, where exactly are the users gonna go? The smallest is probably one of those Samsung foldable ones. But you’re really underestimating how bad android ecosystem can be (this is coming from someone who’s been hardcore android fan until recently). Maybe I’m getting older, but I really like the part where a lot of things with apple just work.


The 12 mini received a lot of hate, both on HN and in the wider press, and a lot of predictions about how awful it was and how nobody was buying it.

"Sorry, small-phone lovers: The iPhone 12 mini was Apple’s 2020 sales flop" [0]

"The iPhone 12 Mini May Not Be Long for This World" [1]

"Who would pay that for a powerful phone inherently limited by screen size" [2]

"No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame." [3]

Yet they made a 13 mini.

It's still a little larger that I'd like, but is is usable unlike the ridiculous sized phones others have.

[0] https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/02/the-iphone-12-mini-h...

[1] https://gizmodo.com/the-iphone-12-mini-may-not-be-long-for-t...

[2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26082294

[3] https://slashdot.org/story/01/10/23/1816257/Apple-releases-i...


Well, iphone 13 mini is smaller…

I’m stuck in my mini 13 until a new mini comes out or I get tired of it.

I think that's where we're at now, there's no feature you NEED, just occasional upgrades that you can put off if you want for form factor alone.


iPhone 13 mini does exist. But I haven't seen one since.
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