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iPhone 13 mini The iPhone 13 Mini may be the last of its kind, let’s say goodbye to the best iPhone ever made

NARadyk said:
I might be going through a mid life crisis but I sold my iPhone 13 Pro Max today and bought an iPhone 13 Mini to finally scratch that itch I’ve been feeling these past couple of years. I of course purchased it from Apple in case I decide to move to the 14 once announced but day 1 and I’m loving it. I notice certain things that I was used to with my Pro Max but it’s a real contender to be kept moving forward.
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haha, sure you are not the only one! good call selling the 13 pro max NOW for obvious reasons, did the same thing. Have been using my Mini, its nice (little harder to see) but not much... don't find battery that bad. I think its the "light weight" personally, that I like... i just HATED the weight of the 13 PM... sure its just me :)
 
kp98077 said:
haha, sure you are not the only one! good call selling the 13 pro max NOW for obvious reasons, did the same thing. Have been using my Mini, its nice (little harder to see) but not much... don't find battery that bad. I think its the "light weight" personally, that I like... i just HATED the weight of the 13 PM... sure its just me :)
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I’m actually going to wait to sell my PM until after the 14 launch. Apple will raise the price of all models and with the rumored lack luster update it’s my hope people who were waiting will realize the 14 PM is too expensive and my mint 13 PM will look like an awesome deal compared to the more expensive and underwhelming 14 PM.
 
Sheepish-Lord said:
I’m actually going to wait to sell my PM until after the 14 launch. Apple will raise the price of all models and with the rumored lack luster update it’s my hope people who were waiting will realize the 14 PM is too expensive and my mint 13 PM will look like an awesome deal compared to the more expensive and underwhelming 14 PM.
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Despite this, people usually want that shinny new toy 🧸
 
Nice review. I planned to get a 13 Mini at launch for months, but switched last minute to the 13 Pro. I was so sick of having a big phone (I had XS Max) and knew this would probably be the last year of the Mini. However, for years, I also said I would only upgrade once we got ProMotion. And I was wanting longer battery life, a brighter screen, and the telephoto lens. The 13 Mini was much smaller and more ergonomic than my XS Max, but the 13 Pro was still smaller and more ergonomic but also had ProMotion, longer battery life, telephoto, and an even brighter screen than the Mini which was already brighter than my XS Max. I also only upgrade every few years and really consider my options when I do upgrade, so I just couldn't swallow the pill that I'd be spending all that money to upgrade and still not getting all of the new features possible. I also like the visual design of the Pros much more than the standard models.

I'm very happy with my 13 Pro, but I still have a curiosity in the back of my mind about what it'd be like to use a 13 Mini daily. I think ergonomically it would be incredible both for size and weight. Turns out, I don't take nearly as many photos as I used to either, so I don't think the telephoto is as necessary as I thought it was. Neither is the brighter screen. The 13 Mini screen is probably already plenty bright enough. But I would definitely notice the lack of ProMotion (an essential feature for me), the shorter battery life probably wouldn't last me through the day, and I think there would be instances where the smaller screen would be less than optimal (mainly using phone as mounted GPS in the car and watching TikToks with my boyfriend).

The 13 Mini vs 13 Pro is a very tough choice between ergonomic functionality vs feature functionality. My dream solution would be a 13 Pro Mini, or at least a 13 Mini with the battery life of the 13 Pro and ProMotion. Part of me thinks the 5.8" Pro size of the 2017-2019 models would've been a good compromise too.
 
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Nice write-up, by the way. I’m happy you’re happy and fully relate to and understand your love for this special “Goldilocks” phone.

I’ve been rather tempted by ProMotion in the past (and I probably will be again in the future) but I just can’t fathom giving up the size—or color—of my beloved green 13 mini.

It feels like the perfect amalgamation of my previous iPhone 12 and my formerly-treasured iPhone 5/SE. It is indeed a work of artful engineering that must be seen, felt, used to be believed—and all the harder to give up knowing it mayn’t be iterated upon in the near future.

Viva la mini!
 
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I love and miss my beloved 11 Pro, still my favorite iPhone to date, but I was lured to the 12 by a combo of 5G (I tend to be an early tech adopter and LTE is mostly awful in my area) and the camera improvements. However I decided to forgo the camera to try the 12 Mini, because I was feeling like phones were just getting too big, heavy, and expensive.

At first I loved it, I felt very similar to the OP. It felt liberating to have a phone that practically disappeared in my pocket and fit in one hand like a glove.

Ultimately, four things became deal breakers for me. First, typing on the smaller screen of the Mini led to more frequent mistakes, a noticeable amount. Second, my fingers kept getting close enough to the camera lenses that they would intrude into the bottom of pictures. Third, the battery just couldn’t keep up. Fourth, the lower amount of RAM meant every time I opened the camera, half my apps would reload including Safari and this become increasingly aggravating.

For these reasons, I gave the Mini to my wife and bought a 12 Pro Max. The 12 Pro really would have been my preferred size and weight but only the Max had the bigger camera sensor at the time.

In retrospect I wish I had held on to the 11 Pro for one more year and upgraded to the 13 Pro, but c’est la vie. I still think the Mini is a great product, just not the right one for me.
 
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lkalliance said:
Face ID
All right. This is where the biggest sore spot is. I was very nervous about going from Touch ID to Face ID. I've had the mini now for several months, and I am used to the new dynamics of waking and unlocking the phone. Face ID is...fine. But it is not as good as Touch ID. The gap is not as big as I feared it would be, but Touch ID remains the easier interface.

With Touch ID I need one action with my thumb. Place it on the home button. From there I can press it to wake, leave it right there to authenticate, and press to go home. It might as well be one motion. And I can do it at any angle, or even in my pocket. With a Face ID phone I need to touch the screen to wake, then make sure I'm in the field of view (and looking at it: it requires your attention to be on it), and then do a swipe up from the bottom to go to the home screen. This is a step back from Touch ID.

This really messes with Apple Pay as well. Double-clicking the sleep/wake button isn't a very natural thing. Your mileage may very of course. But I find it off-putting. I am constantly accidentally taking screen shots or putting the phone to sleep. I have to think about how to hold the phone to do it successfully. Then I have to authenticate, which works well but has its limits. And only then do I tap the reader.

Tell it I want to pay -> authenticate -> tap. This is not the natural way to go about a purchase.

With Touch ID, I put to the reader FIRST. THEN I authenticate. Tap -> authenticate. Much smoother, and more natural. Apple Pay took a BIG step back going from Touch ID to Face ID. Now, fortunately, I have an Apple Watch, and I can use that without futzing with the phone. But the phone should be much better at it.

This is my biggest single problem with the 13 mini (which, really, isn't a problem with the mini specifically but with the whole design language of the home buttonless iPhones). My other problems are at the margins. This one is a real one, and I hope they improve it somehow.
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That's exactly how I also feel about Face ID. 👍
Touch ID was just more natural. Finger on button and things happen.
Paying can get awkward sometimes.

Oh and bright sunlight? For some reason that's where Face ID gives me the most trouble. Pitch dark? Not a problem. Full sunlight? Hit and miss.

Anyway. I have learnt to live with Face ID… but a Touch ID in the Power button would be grand.
 
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I think (hope) the Mini will stick around until the folding device that acts like a Mini but expands to a Max is released. The A15 will still kinda/sorta be the current chip so it's not even outdated. And they probably still have a ton of parts.
 
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lkalliance said:
The gap is not as big as I feared it would be, but Touch ID remains the easier interface.
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Agree, TouchID is superior in certain situations like when using Apple Pay. It's not as streamlined and fluid with FaceID. If only the Mini also had TouchID on the power button...

My biggest gripe with the FaceID phones is the 'Reachability' feature. Swiping down on the screen to bring the screen down is not easy or intuitive. In comparison, all you had to do on TouchID phones was to double tap on the home button, easy and natural. Not so much of an issue on the Mini phones as everything can be reached with your thumb (with a little bit of finger gymnastics), but still a bit annoying.

sorgo said:
It is indeed a work of artful engineering that must be seen, felt, used to be believed—and all the harder to give up knowing it mayn’t be iterated upon in the near future.
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The Mini feels densely packed, like every millimetre of space was used and nothing was wasted. I like how solid yet light it feels.

Just look at this thing:

iPhone-13-mini-internals-1.jpeg
 
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The 13 Mini for me is one of the best iphones ever made. Hard to to get hold of 128 GB in Midnight though with third party retailers, only Apple themselves readily have them in stock but at full RRP of course.
 
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arkitect said:
That's exactly how I also feel about Face ID. 👍
Touch ID was just more natural. Finger on button and things happen.
Paying can get awkward sometimes.

Oh and bright sunlight? For some reason that's where Face ID gives me the most trouble. Pitch dark? Not a problem. Full sunlight? Hit and miss.

Anyway. I have learnt to live with Face ID… but a Touch ID in the Power button would be grand.
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I haven't used an iPad with Touch ID on the power button. Does it work well? My gut reaction is that it can't be as secure as Touch ID on a home button, less area to analyze. But I admit that's just a gut reaction and not based on any knowledge of the engineering.
 
The iPhone Mini will become the new iPhone SE next year or the year after. It will get a couple downgrades like LCD only and basic storage.
 
john g. said:
Fantastic phone, probably my favorite, except that I had to let it go since I can't get on with the OLED screen PWM.

If they made one with a flicker free OLED or even a LCD it would be an instant buy.
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What are you using now instead?
 
I had a 12 mini and loved it at first. After 6 months of light use the battery health had dropped to 82%. I had to charge it 2 -3 times a day just to get through a day. It literally sat on my office desk from 8-5 doing nothing as I don't use it at work and even that would require a recharge at lunch. I took it back to Apple numerous times, they even shipped it back to Apple to have further testing which took 10 days, and every time they said the battery was performing within normal parameters.

For me the physical size was perfect, it fit in a pocket easily, it was light and comfortable to hold in my hand, etc. But the actual performance of the battery rendered the device virtually useless. I always had to be sure I had somewhere to plug it in or I had to bring a battery pack with me. Kinda defeats the purpose of a mini device if you have to carry extra cables and batteries to use it.

The phone finally died when it was 15 months old thanks to a fall on my bicycle. While I miss the physical size I don't miss the horrid battery performance. I "downgraded" to an iPhone 11 that my carrier gave me a great deal on. I can easily get through a day now and have no more battery anxiety. Turns out i also think i prefer LCD over OLED too.

So for me if the mini is dead I'm okay with that. Its a device that isn't quite ready for prime time as far as I'm concerned. If Apple makes a breakthrough with battery technology then it could be a real winner but for now I'll pass on ever owning the mini again.
 
Nobody knows the future of the Mini. I believe it failed because it's a niche device and it cost too much. Had Apple given it less features and lowered the price it would have sold much better. I still believe the Mini can remain in the lineup for years to come. But Apple needs to get the price down and they only need to update it every 2 years or so. There is only one selling point to the Mini. The size. Offer such a size at a lower price point and it will sell much better than the two previous years.
 
kp98077 said:
you are saying they will keep it around for a few years?
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Pretty much. Look at the first iPhone SE using iPhone 5/5S design as well as the second gen iPhone SE using the iPhone 6/6s/7 design and third gen based on the iPhone 8 design. These were all flagship designs at one point. Apple doesn’t want that R&D and inventory of chassis/product boxes going to waste. Apple knows it must have something in the relatively affordable price range. The iPhone Mini design will be that on top of serving a niche group of users who just want a smaller phone.
 
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