3 ms·

I’m still waiting on a mini

dijit 24d ago
we’ll be waiting a while. The last Mini was iPhone 8 sized, when I considered anything larger than the 5 to be too much. The Mini thus, undersold, because if you were fine with the 8 then iPhones of that size were still available (2nd Gen SE). Nobody bought: So Apple thinks theres no market.
- ocd 24d ago
  Always seemed like a marketing issue on Apple's part. People have different opinions when they actually see and handle the Mini. Apple appended so many "Pro" and "Max" names to everything which ended up creating a "status symbol" that was contrary to the actual needs of the consumer to have a more reasonably sized phone. "Fablets" weren't particularly popular for that reason, and Apple still managed to lead people down this road.
  - permanent-overc 24d ago
    I think you forgot the history. Apple was the last hold out with small phones, years after everybody else moved to huge phones. But even Apple couldn't resist the pressure from the consumers, and eventually yielded.
    - happymellon 24d ago
      Yet they sold more minis than Google sells Pixels. And somehow we ended up with more Pixels and not minis.
    - layer8 24d ago
      The mini was released six months after the SE2 was released, which many SE1 owners holding out for a new smaller iPhone had already migrated to. Then Apple presented the mini in a joke-y manner in the keynote, didn’t do any publicity afterwards, and neither did the carriers (because the mini was lower-margin for them I presume). Lastly, the iPhone 12 gen had particularly bad battery life, which also hurt the mini. With today’s battery improvements, it would be much better (as demonstrated by the iPhone Air’s good battery life). Apple could at least have taken the option to make the “e” line mini-sized.
- Jtsummers 24d ago
  > The last Mini was iPhone 8 sized It was smaller than the iPhone 8. It was slightly thicker (0.01"), shorter (by 0.27") and narrower (0.13"). And it had a bigger display despite being overall smaller. It was bigger than the 5, though.
  - dijit 24d ago
    maybe I'm misremembering the dimensions of the 8. I did, however, take a series of photos comparing the Mini to the SE- and the packaging of the 6 (I think I gave the phone away but still had the box). https://imgur.com/a/iphone-mini-vs-iphone-5-vs-iphone-6-case-W5b7RDF https://imgur.com/a/iphone-mini-vs-iphone-5-vs-iphone-6-case...
    - Jtsummers 24d ago
      https://www.apple.com/iphone/compare/?modelList=iphone-13-mini,iphone-se-2nd-gen,iphone-8 https://www.apple.com/iphone/compare/?modelList=iphone-13-mi... The SE was the one that shared the 8's dimensions, the Mini was smaller than both. That Mini appears to be in a case, so the comparison photos aren't as useful as they'd be otherwise. (Also, it looks like I couldn't do arithmetic earlier or typo'd the number, the Mini is 0.12" narrower, not 0.13").
      - dijit 24d ago
        I'm not sure I understand how you think the mini is in a case from those photos. Maybe because it's the dark version of the phone you can barely make out the shiny apple logo, but it's there, you can see the metal edge of the phone. It's not in a case.. obviously, that would be a stupid comparison.
        Jtsummers 24d ago
        Fair, zooming in I guess I can see that. You may want to correct the label on the photo though, it shares dimensions with the 5 but you've clearly photographed an SE (original, it turns out, which was part of my confusion since you switched at some point from talking about the 2nd gen to the 1st gen) not an iPhone 5.
ocd 24d ago
Despite the Lightning port, I prefer my 13 Mini to upgrading.
- pixelesque 24d ago
  Same, got battery replaced 5 months ago. Wish I'd got the biggest storage size when I bought it though :(
- rootusrootus 24d ago
  An updated 13 Mini with USB-C and modern chipset would be fantastic. That would get me to upgrade. My hope is that Apple decides the world needs an iPhone Mini once in a while, just not a new one every year.
  - mrheosuper 24d ago
    With SiC battery no less.
  - eumenides1 24d ago
    My contention is every 5 years release a mini spec with hardware bumps. Everyone jumps in and everyone upgrade. It only has the larger size space spec. Rinse and repeat. If you have a "known" or "expected" cycle, people can rely on that.
    - jghn 24d ago
      This has been my hope. Relase one, say "oops no market", and then come back several years later
      - stoneman24 24d ago
        Me too, still surviving on 12 mini. Issue a new mini and you’ll have my money the minute that the shop opens.
pixelesque 24d ago
I wish they'd alternate each year or something between iPhone / iPhone mini if they're struggling for sales. The body shapes and cases seem to change each year anyway now, so it's not like people get to re-use cases that much anyway...
haunter 24d ago
The new iPhone Duo in single screen mode is the same size (5.4") as the iPhone 13 mini but with a different aspect ratio https://photos.reportinglive.com/p/2026-09-09/f-bf86c6f5adb3411c82839319e493ceb7f03c3b4a.jpg https://photos.reportinglive.com/p/2026-09-09/f-bf86c6f5adb3...
- idontwantthis 24d ago
  I wouldn’t mind buying half of one of those for 1/4 the price.
- pixelesque 24d ago
  It's wider though, and surely going to weigh more...
  - kgwgk 24d ago
    A lot more. Almost twice as much (+80%). Height 4.64 inches (117.8 mm) closed / 4.64 inches (117.8 mm) open 5.18 inches (131.5 mm) Width 3.31 inches (84.1 mm) closed / 6.48 inches (164.6 mm) open 2.53 inches (64.2 mm) Depth 0.44 inch (11.3 mm) closed / 0.21 inch (5.2 mm) open 0.30 inch (7.65 mm) Weight 8.96 ounces (254 grams) 4.97 ounces (141 grams)
- Firaxus 24d ago
  I think the screen might be the same diagonal length but it looks wider overall…
- layer8 24d ago
  Same diagonal doesn’t mean same size. The Duo is also much thicker (the camera plateau in particular) and heavier, and the front screen is so wide (a good bit wider than the Pro Max) that it’s hardly suited for one handed use.
idontwantthis 24d ago
Me too. Everyone who sees my phone loves it, and I always share a nod with my fellow mini owners. I really don’t want a huge phone and it is still more than fast enough (a 12 at that!) iPhones got Good Enough at least 6 years ago. Same with macbooks.
azibi 24d ago
I really liked my iPhone 12 mini. But Apple also makes a lot of money from app sales, so I wonder if there’s a connection between screen size and app purchases. Maybe users with larger screens spend more time in apps and are therefore more likely to buy apps or make in-app purchases. The more screen real estate people have, the more they might engage with apps, which could translate into higher spending.
havaloc 24d ago
Having used a Z Fold 8, it's sort of a Mini. I'd love to see a non-folding phone in the same passport form factor, I think they'd sell a ton.

dijit 24d ago

we’ll be waiting a while. The last Mini was iPhone 8 sized, when I considered anything larger than the 5 to be too much. The Mini thus, undersold, because if you were fine with the 8 then iPhones of that size were still available (2nd Gen SE). Nobody bought: So Apple thinks theres no market.

ocd 24d ago
Always seemed like a marketing issue on Apple's part. People have different opinions when they actually see and handle the Mini. Apple appended so many "Pro" and "Max" names to everything which ended up creating a "status symbol" that was contrary to the actual needs of the consumer to have a more reasonably sized phone. "Fablets" weren't particularly popular for that reason, and Apple still managed to lead people down this road.
- permanent-overc 24d ago
  I think you forgot the history. Apple was the last hold out with small phones, years after everybody else moved to huge phones. But even Apple couldn't resist the pressure from the consumers, and eventually yielded.
  - happymellon 24d ago
    Yet they sold more minis than Google sells Pixels. And somehow we ended up with more Pixels and not minis.
  - layer8 24d ago
    The mini was released six months after the SE2 was released, which many SE1 owners holding out for a new smaller iPhone had already migrated to. Then Apple presented the mini in a joke-y manner in the keynote, didn’t do any publicity afterwards, and neither did the carriers (because the mini was lower-margin for them I presume). Lastly, the iPhone 12 gen had particularly bad battery life, which also hurt the mini. With today’s battery improvements, it would be much better (as demonstrated by the iPhone Air’s good battery life). Apple could at least have taken the option to make the “e” line mini-sized.
Jtsummers 24d ago
> The last Mini was iPhone 8 sized It was smaller than the iPhone 8. It was slightly thicker (0.01"), shorter (by 0.27") and narrower (0.13"). And it had a bigger display despite being overall smaller. It was bigger than the 5, though.
- dijit 24d ago
  maybe I'm misremembering the dimensions of the 8. I did, however, take a series of photos comparing the Mini to the SE- and the packaging of the 6 (I think I gave the phone away but still had the box). https://imgur.com/a/iphone-mini-vs-iphone-5-vs-iphone-6-case-W5b7RDF https://imgur.com/a/iphone-mini-vs-iphone-5-vs-iphone-6-case...
  - Jtsummers 24d ago
    https://www.apple.com/iphone/compare/?modelList=iphone-13-mini,iphone-se-2nd-gen,iphone-8 https://www.apple.com/iphone/compare/?modelList=iphone-13-mi... The SE was the one that shared the 8's dimensions, the Mini was smaller than both. That Mini appears to be in a case, so the comparison photos aren't as useful as they'd be otherwise. (Also, it looks like I couldn't do arithmetic earlier or typo'd the number, the Mini is 0.12" narrower, not 0.13").
    - dijit 24d ago
      I'm not sure I understand how you think the mini is in a case from those photos. Maybe because it's the dark version of the phone you can barely make out the shiny apple logo, but it's there, you can see the metal edge of the phone. It's not in a case.. obviously, that would be a stupid comparison.
      - Jtsummers 24d ago
        Fair, zooming in I guess I can see that. You may want to correct the label on the photo though, it shares dimensions with the 5 but you've clearly photographed an SE (original, it turns out, which was part of my confusion since you switched at some point from talking about the 2nd gen to the 1st gen) not an iPhone 5.

ocd 24d ago

Despite the Lightning port, I prefer my 13 Mini to upgrading.

pixelesque 24d ago
Same, got battery replaced 5 months ago. Wish I'd got the biggest storage size when I bought it though :(
rootusrootus 24d ago
An updated 13 Mini with USB-C and modern chipset would be fantastic. That would get me to upgrade. My hope is that Apple decides the world needs an iPhone Mini once in a while, just not a new one every year.
- mrheosuper 24d ago
  With SiC battery no less.
- eumenides1 24d ago
  My contention is every 5 years release a mini spec with hardware bumps. Everyone jumps in and everyone upgrade. It only has the larger size space spec. Rinse and repeat. If you have a "known" or "expected" cycle, people can rely on that.
  - jghn 24d ago
    This has been my hope. Relase one, say "oops no market", and then come back several years later
    - stoneman24 24d ago
      Me too, still surviving on 12 mini. Issue a new mini and you’ll have my money the minute that the shop opens.

pixelesque 24d ago

I wish they'd alternate each year or something between iPhone / iPhone mini if they're struggling for sales. The body shapes and cases seem to change each year anyway now, so it's not like people get to re-use cases that much anyway...

haunter 24d ago

The new iPhone Duo in single screen mode is the same size (5.4") as the iPhone 13 mini but with a different aspect ratio https://photos.reportinglive.com/p/2026-09-09/f-bf86c6f5adb3411c82839319e493ceb7f03c3b4a.jpg https://photos.reportinglive.com/p/2026-09-09/f-bf86c6f5adb3...

idontwantthis 24d ago
I wouldn’t mind buying half of one of those for 1/4 the price.
pixelesque 24d ago
It's wider though, and surely going to weigh more...
- kgwgk 24d ago
  A lot more. Almost twice as much (+80%). Height 4.64 inches (117.8 mm) closed / 4.64 inches (117.8 mm) open 5.18 inches (131.5 mm) Width 3.31 inches (84.1 mm) closed / 6.48 inches (164.6 mm) open 2.53 inches (64.2 mm) Depth 0.44 inch (11.3 mm) closed / 0.21 inch (5.2 mm) open 0.30 inch (7.65 mm) Weight 8.96 ounces (254 grams) 4.97 ounces (141 grams)
Firaxus 24d ago
I think the screen might be the same diagonal length but it looks wider overall…
layer8 24d ago
Same diagonal doesn’t mean same size. The Duo is also much thicker (the camera plateau in particular) and heavier, and the front screen is so wide (a good bit wider than the Pro Max) that it’s hardly suited for one handed use.

idontwantthis 24d ago

Me too. Everyone who sees my phone loves it, and I always share a nod with my fellow mini owners. I really don’t want a huge phone and it is still more than fast enough (a 12 at that!) iPhones got Good Enough at least 6 years ago. Same with macbooks.

azibi 24d ago

I really liked my iPhone 12 mini. But Apple also makes a lot of money from app sales, so I wonder if there’s a connection between screen size and app purchases. Maybe users with larger screens spend more time in apps and are therefore more likely to buy apps or make in-app purchases. The more screen real estate people have, the more they might engage with apps, which could translate into higher spending.

havaloc 24d ago

Having used a Z Fold 8, it's sort of a Mini. I'd love to see a non-folding phone in the same passport form factor, I think they'd sell a ton.