Just like myself, I’m sure there are a number of people here who had shivers seeing the discontinuation of the iPhone mini. I had been holding onto my 12 mini (with a fairly new battery) knowing this was going to be my year no matter what. And on Pre-Order day, I placed my order for a iPhone 15 Pro 6.1”.
I picked it up from the Apple Store yesterday, and most of my concerns have melted away.
I liked the 12 mini for two big reasons: weight and the ability to use the phone one handed. Another minor reason is “pocketability.”
Weight:
As others have shared, the iPhone 15 Pro does feel surprisingly light. It’s no mini in weight, but the density is similar and therefore doesn’t feel as heavy. The iPhone 13 mini weights 141 grams and the 13 Pro weighs 187 grams. However, the mass of the phone is up 32% and the weight of the phone is also up 32% (I rounded down). So the new impression is that it is comfortably light. This effect would be magnified by the even lighter standard 15 (21% heavier). However, the only reason I didn’t get a pro previously was because it didn’t come in my preferred size. To be completely honest, my preferred size would be the iPhone X 5.8” screen with the square edges, but that’s another story.
One-handed use:
I’m still learning to type two handed on a wider phone, but a big reason why I loved the mini was because I could touch every corner of the phone with one hand. This isn’t perfectly resolved, but let me explain.
If I try, I can type on the iPhone 15 Pro one handed. The tiny bezels do make a difference over the standard models. It makes this phone within a millimeter in thickness to my beloved iPhone X. However, about a quarter inch of that width if not more was rounded edges. Nonetheless, for me, I can hit the “L” key no problem and it’s a bit of a stretch typing the letter “P,” but every minute I spend typing one handed, it gets easier and easier.
To type with one hand, my hand needs to hold the phone towards the bottom. Then I can’t hit the top. I can hold the phone in the middle to hit every edge, but then need to adjust my grip when it comes time to type. It’s not as big a deal as I thought it would be to be honest. I hold it in the middle for casual browsing and slide it down onto my pinky finger when it’s time to type.
If I really don’t feel like sliding my hand, I can still grab the bottom back bar and pull it down, which pulls down the screen.
Features: do you need them?
I was really contemplating if I even needed a new phone. I definitely didn’t, especially because I got my battery replaced. Maybe it’s THAT different on the 13 mini, but it was abysmal on the 12 mini, even with the replaced battery. It was honestly just unacceptable, I was tied to the cable. The battery is undeniably better than on my 12 mini with a 5 month old battery, but it doesn’t seem like it’ll be a battery champ as some have began to speculate. It is a new improvement to me.
I thought I’d ooze over the 120hz. It’s fun for seriously about 5 minutes, and outside of that you just get reminded of it when closing apps, but it’s a novelty that doesn’t reinvent the phone for me.
The cameras are obviously a substantial improvement. I went from an X to 12 mini, so I’m really happy about getting the telephoto lens. I remember being hesitant of losing it when moving from my X, and it’s definitely nice to have it back.
The magical island or whatever feels cool, but I’m finding it more to be a nuisance. I use my phone while watching tv, and it’ll bubble out to tell me the Apple TV is playing something. Then I don’t get reception bars, only WiFi, and it’s making itself far more noticeable than the notch ever was on the 12 mini. It doesn’t do anything insightful with my workflow.
The action button is also more underwhelming than I thought it would be. I definitely didn’t want a 30th way to access the camera. To be honest for me, it would probably be most useful as an Apple TV remote function, but I probably need a shortcut to do that, if possible at all. I have mine set to a flashlight. I don’t need a magnifier, I don’t use voice memos, I’m more likely to toggle vibrate while using the iPhone and it would be easier in Notification Center, and I set DnD the same way. So flashlight made sense since that’s generally a double step for me.
I’m generally a lurker, but I feel I owe the community, especially the mini community, my thoughts from switching off a platform Apple clearly intends to abandon (unless there’s some SE surprises which I wouldn’t say are totally out of the cards)
If you’re on the fence, I’d encourage you to get one and try it within the return window. I lost 6% battery typing this on my phone (admittedly took me a while) in the sun.
I picked it up from the Apple Store yesterday, and most of my concerns have melted away.
I liked the 12 mini for two big reasons: weight and the ability to use the phone one handed. Another minor reason is “pocketability.”
Weight:
As others have shared, the iPhone 15 Pro does feel surprisingly light. It’s no mini in weight, but the density is similar and therefore doesn’t feel as heavy. The iPhone 13 mini weights 141 grams and the 13 Pro weighs 187 grams. However, the mass of the phone is up 32% and the weight of the phone is also up 32% (I rounded down). So the new impression is that it is comfortably light. This effect would be magnified by the even lighter standard 15 (21% heavier). However, the only reason I didn’t get a pro previously was because it didn’t come in my preferred size. To be completely honest, my preferred size would be the iPhone X 5.8” screen with the square edges, but that’s another story.
One-handed use:
I’m still learning to type two handed on a wider phone, but a big reason why I loved the mini was because I could touch every corner of the phone with one hand. This isn’t perfectly resolved, but let me explain.
If I try, I can type on the iPhone 15 Pro one handed. The tiny bezels do make a difference over the standard models. It makes this phone within a millimeter in thickness to my beloved iPhone X. However, about a quarter inch of that width if not more was rounded edges. Nonetheless, for me, I can hit the “L” key no problem and it’s a bit of a stretch typing the letter “P,” but every minute I spend typing one handed, it gets easier and easier.
To type with one hand, my hand needs to hold the phone towards the bottom. Then I can’t hit the top. I can hold the phone in the middle to hit every edge, but then need to adjust my grip when it comes time to type. It’s not as big a deal as I thought it would be to be honest. I hold it in the middle for casual browsing and slide it down onto my pinky finger when it’s time to type.
If I really don’t feel like sliding my hand, I can still grab the bottom back bar and pull it down, which pulls down the screen.
Features: do you need them?
I was really contemplating if I even needed a new phone. I definitely didn’t, especially because I got my battery replaced. Maybe it’s THAT different on the 13 mini, but it was abysmal on the 12 mini, even with the replaced battery. It was honestly just unacceptable, I was tied to the cable. The battery is undeniably better than on my 12 mini with a 5 month old battery, but it doesn’t seem like it’ll be a battery champ as some have began to speculate. It is a new improvement to me.
I thought I’d ooze over the 120hz. It’s fun for seriously about 5 minutes, and outside of that you just get reminded of it when closing apps, but it’s a novelty that doesn’t reinvent the phone for me.
The cameras are obviously a substantial improvement. I went from an X to 12 mini, so I’m really happy about getting the telephoto lens. I remember being hesitant of losing it when moving from my X, and it’s definitely nice to have it back.
The magical island or whatever feels cool, but I’m finding it more to be a nuisance. I use my phone while watching tv, and it’ll bubble out to tell me the Apple TV is playing something. Then I don’t get reception bars, only WiFi, and it’s making itself far more noticeable than the notch ever was on the 12 mini. It doesn’t do anything insightful with my workflow.
The action button is also more underwhelming than I thought it would be. I definitely didn’t want a 30th way to access the camera. To be honest for me, it would probably be most useful as an Apple TV remote function, but I probably need a shortcut to do that, if possible at all. I have mine set to a flashlight. I don’t need a magnifier, I don’t use voice memos, I’m more likely to toggle vibrate while using the iPhone and it would be easier in Notification Center, and I set DnD the same way. So flashlight made sense since that’s generally a double step for me.
I’m generally a lurker, but I feel I owe the community, especially the mini community, my thoughts from switching off a platform Apple clearly intends to abandon (unless there’s some SE surprises which I wouldn’t say are totally out of the cards)
If you’re on the fence, I’d encourage you to get one and try it within the return window. I lost 6% battery typing this on my phone (admittedly took me a while) in the sun.
