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iPhone 13 mini Talk me out of a 13 Mini!
- Thread starter rwh63
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As someone who had a 13 mini, you’re asking me to talk you out of it. OK:
1. your phone is probably your primary device when you think about it - 2fa, banking, applepay, camera etc.
2. iOS isn’t being written with tiny screens in mind any more
3. Battery life is pretty crap
three reasons above why i jumped from 13 mini to 16 pro max.
1. your phone is probably your primary device when you think about it - 2fa, banking, applepay, camera etc.
2. iOS isn’t being written with tiny screens in mind any more
3. Battery life is pretty crap
three reasons above why i jumped from 13 mini to 16 pro max.
I would be graciously humbled to be corrected by someone speaking about generalizations in absolutes.
If I ever indeed proceed to define it for others, may such a wondrous possibility open for me.
Until then, I suppose I shall have to remain disappointed with merely sounding reasonable to the reasonable.
You’re entitled to your opinion mate, but I don’t see the negative at all. My point was simply that I’m more productive with my phone now. It doesn’t make me more distracted in any way.
My man! That was exactly my case as well, although I had a 12 Mini - which I actually still have for nostalgic reasons, lol. Same as me still holding on to my iPhone X and a BlackBerry Passport. Those phones are worthless now, but to me they have a special value as they were all one of a kind, groundbreaking devices at the time…
The Pro Max is a big size jump from a Mini. If moving to a larger device, just get a regular-sized iPhone or Pro model. My phone isn't my primary device, though.
I had a 8 Plus and I never got used to the large physical size, even after two years of owning it. Went back to a standard-sized model and was much happier.
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Yeah that's the point though.
I could use the mini one handed, so it had an appeal. The regular phone now - I can't. So I may as well go plus/max size to get the better battery life, etc.
Just buy a 16e instead of the archaic 13.
/thread
The 13 mini is the best phone size (in my opinion). It feels so nice to carry a small device in your pocket.
The problem is the software is no longer designed for those smaller screens anymore. Anytime you use tech displays, you want your eyes to be as relaxed as possible. Zero strain. The 13 mini makes your eyes work way to hard and it's not good for long term eye health.
The problem is the software is no longer designed for those smaller screens anymore. Anytime you use tech displays, you want your eyes to be as relaxed as possible. Zero strain. The 13 mini makes your eyes work way to hard and it's not good for long term eye health.
Just upgraded from 13 mini to iPhone Air.
13 mini still works great for call, text, Apple Pay and the occasional visit to your search engine of choice.
But for most other things it’s worth considering to move on.
Debated myself whether to just get a new battery and keep using it for a few more years but a new battery won’t fix the fact that both the RAM and a screen size is so small that absolutely no app- or website developer (probably not even Apple) takes it into account any longer when designing anything.
This won’t get better, just worse.
Basically the same conclusion that made me give up on the original SE after a few years.
13 mini still works great for call, text, Apple Pay and the occasional visit to your search engine of choice.
But for most other things it’s worth considering to move on.
Debated myself whether to just get a new battery and keep using it for a few more years but a new battery won’t fix the fact that both the RAM and a screen size is so small that absolutely no app- or website developer (probably not even Apple) takes it into account any longer when designing anything.
This won’t get better, just worse.
Basically the same conclusion that made me give up on the original SE after a few years.
It is not the same thing but it’s time to move on. If price is not an issue ofc.
I agree! I love mine! I also have a 6s that needs to be replaced and I will likely replace it with an iPhone 13 mini. There is a MR member that has a collection of iPhone minis!
Hey just buy the original iPhone had a smaller screen and they are really cheap
The OG SE is the goat, I would be using it till apps really drop support.
At work I have a 13 mini which I updated to ios 26..before 26.2 it was a bit messy, but right now seems stable and ok, I just hate those big alarm buttons.
Since plan on quitting this job I bought a new from warranty 13mini which still had ios18 on it, and I will keep it as possible there, just prefer the asthetics.
The downside, loose of certains features on newer airpods pro 3 (Which I have and was the reason to update to ios26) and can't connect some apple watches...
It all depends on the functions. My aim was to have a phone that I use less and less, and the mini, is today the best usable ios for that. I would even prefer the OG SE but buying I prefered to buy something more bullet proof (my use: whatsapp, bank apps, google maps, tapatalk and reddit)
At work I have a 13 mini which I updated to ios 26..before 26.2 it was a bit messy, but right now seems stable and ok, I just hate those big alarm buttons.
Since plan on quitting this job I bought a new from warranty 13mini which still had ios18 on it, and I will keep it as possible there, just prefer the asthetics.
The downside, loose of certains features on newer airpods pro 3 (Which I have and was the reason to update to ios26) and can't connect some apple watches...
It all depends on the functions. My aim was to have a phone that I use less and less, and the mini, is today the best usable ios for that. I would even prefer the OG SE but buying I prefered to buy something more bullet proof (my use: whatsapp, bank apps, google maps, tapatalk and reddit)
I ran an original SE for a couple of years in the appropriate time frame, and I always wondered, where's the rest of the screen? Those wasted top and bottom bezels were a total loss. Imagine what people would say if Apple introduced such a format today.
wow, at least 2 or 3 people are sure to marvel at a collection of obsolete cell phones.
the mini was the best phone for me for a few years. if the battery didn't go down 2-3% just by turning the screen on to send a couple texts, i'd still use it (ios 18, 100% bh). buying it in 2026 is silly, but i'm pretty sure i also recall reading one of op's posts about carrying his 10 year old SE in a ziploc bag so i digress.
spend the extra couple hundred on a 16e or 17 and revisit making another confirmation bias thread in 8 years.
Totally depends on your usage. If you are willing to sacrifice speed and battery life for more compact size then go for it. As much as I liked the size, I found that I was putting too much use on the phone to make it feasible for my daily use. You may well find you can live with it.
Not really relevant here, I dare say. Any conversation that includes the Mini is not about performance benchmarks. It's about size.
I would love if Apple introduced this size again!
I was already a relatively light user for those reasons and then recently started to experiment with black and white mode (technically grayscale) via Accessibility after a NYTimes authors wrote an article about doing the same. It's interesting how much less that makes me want to pick up my phone. To go along with that I use Dark Mode full time to avoid bright colored backgrounds becoming bright white backgrounds. Every once in a while I actually need color but I am thinking about sticking with it.
Ideally the Color Filters option could be set on a per-app basis (e.g. I would leave Camera, Photos, and maybe Messages in regular color) but my understanding is that iOS is not architected that way. Also its funny if I take a screenshot and send it to someone they see the colors on my screen that I don't for the same reasons.