Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

ssledoux

macrumors 601
Sep 16, 2006
4,412
4,243
Down south
Wonder if I should snag one for my granddaughter before they go for good? She probably won’t get a phone til next year, but it might be worth holding on to. I want to get her that blush colored one.
 

ian87w

macrumors G3
Feb 22, 2020
8,704
12,638
Indonesia
I've heard that Apple is going to cancel the iPhone miniseries this year. But why? That was a great phone.
Why?

Unfortunately, for Apple, the mini is simply a decoy product to increase the price of the regular iPhone by $100 without anybody noticing. Once the market accepted that the regular iPhone is $799, their next step is to upsell by introducing the iPhone Max. The mini has served its purpose and won't be continued.
 

Sheepish-Lord

macrumors 68030
Oct 13, 2021
2,535
5,154
They priced the iPhone Mini out of the market and they do the same with the iPad Mini. Apple assumes people want their Mini models with the latest tech AND in a small form factor when in reality the form factor is the selling point and Apple hardware is so good now I would gladly trade the latest gen hardware for portability assuming the price is cheaper. The iPhone Mini should be have the iPhone SE internals and the iPad Mini should have the iPad internals while maintaining the smaller form factor.

Additionally, the UI is never really geared towards the Mini models so not only does Apple price them higher but then makes the UI extremely frustrating to deal with. It's almost as if Apple want's to kill the Mini models and postures them where only true die hards buy them regardless of issues (iPad Mini has lots) then cancels them due to low sales.
 

ian87w

macrumors G3
Feb 22, 2020
8,704
12,638
Indonesia
They priced the iPhone Mini out of the market and they do the same with the iPad Mini. Apple assumes people want their Mini models with the latest tech AND in a small form factor when in reality the form factor is the selling point and Apple hardware is so good now I would gladly trade the latest gen hardware for portability assuming the price is cheaper. The iPhone Mini should be have the iPhone SE internals and the iPad Mini should have the iPad internals while maintaining the smaller form factor.

Additionally, the UI is never really geared towards the Mini models so not only does Apple price them higher but then makes the UI extremely frustrating to deal with. It's almost as if Apple want's to kill the Mini models and postures them where only true die hards buy them regardless of issues (iPad Mini has lots) then cancels them due to low sales.
Apple priced the mini correctly, so people ended up spending $100 more for the regular iPhone than the previous year.

Apple said it themselves in the keynote when they announced the 12 mini, that this was something that only Apple could do, ie spending resources to make a new line of product just to increase the price of the product (the regular iPhone) that people actually wanted.

Apple's quarterly earnings spoke for themselves...
 

Sheepish-Lord

macrumors 68030
Oct 13, 2021
2,535
5,154
Apple priced the mini correctly, so people ended up spending $100 more for the regular iPhone than the previous year.

Apple said it themselves in the keynote when they announced the 12 mini, that this was something that only Apple could do, ie spending resources to make a new line of product just to increase the price of the product (the regular iPhone) that people actually wanted.

Apple's quarterly earnings spoke for themselves...
If they priced it correctly then why are the sales so bad? I'm a Mini lover but it was too expensive because for the extra $100 you could get the 13 with a bigger screen and better battery life which the majority of folks want.

Now if you dropped the Mini storage from 128gb to 64gb, kept the rest of specs, and priced it at $599 then it could have taken more market share and maybe convinced SE buyers to step up so we can finally get rid of that ancient design. The SE currently costs $429 so IF the 13 Mini costs $599 its just enough for both devices to be relevant yet when the regular 13 only costs $100 more than the Mini it, in turn, made the Mini a harder sale thus more irrelevant.
 

RadioHedgeFund

Cancelled
Sep 11, 2018
422
869
Why?

Unfortunately, for Apple, the mini is simply a decoy product to increase the price of the regular iPhone by $100 without anybody noticing. Once the market accepted that the regular iPhone is $799, their next step is to upsell by introducing the iPhone Max. The mini has served its purpose and won't be continued.
The same is also true of the 'Pro' line which aside from a few 'nice-to-haves' and a zoom lens easily replictated by walking forward 8 feet doesn't offer anything over the regular iPhone yet exists to make the regular model look inferior and get people to spend more.
 

Spardocus

macrumors newbie
Dec 13, 2017
6
7
They priced the iPhone Mini out of the market and they do the same with the iPad Mini. Apple assumes people want their Mini models with the latest tech AND in a small form factor when in reality the form factor is the selling point and Apple hardware is so good now I would gladly trade the latest gen hardware for portability assuming the price is cheaper. The iPhone Mini should be have the iPhone SE internals and the iPad Mini should have the iPad internals while maintaining the smaller form factor.

Additionally, the UI is never really geared towards the Mini models so not only does Apple price them higher but then makes the UI extremely frustrating to deal with. It's almost as if Apple want's to kill the Mini models and postures them where only true die hards buy them regardless of issues (iPad Mini has lots) then cancels them due to low sales.
This is why I suspect they will keep selling the 13mini even if they don’t make a new one. Especially when you see rumors the new phone might not have a new processor, there’s not much more you can do with these phones. I’d imagine the upgrades the 14mini would have provided were minuscule— it already struggles with overheating as it is, so it limits what you can do with processor and battery. What else would be upgraded that would change the prospects for the phone?

Smart if they keep 13mini around until it needs an internal refresh and make it the new SE body.
 

Populus

macrumors 603
Aug 24, 2012
5,991
8,452
Spain, Europe
Why has Apple cancelled the iPhone mini series?

Because, sadly, it didn’t sell well enough.

Apparently, most users prefer the 6.1” size, which is a bit too large for me to use with one hand, but people voted with their wallet. If the vast majority of people want phablets, I’m afraid the few of us who want an actual mobile-sized smartphone won’t have much to choose from.

That’s why I really wanted to keep the 13 mini I got, but sadly, the OLED screen made my eyes cry and I got headaches while using it, so I had to return it.

So… my only option in Apple is a phone that looks like one released 8 years ago. Anyway, this Christmas I will use the extended return period to really try to get used to the 6.1” size using it with one hand, and if I drop it too many times, I’ll know that I won’t probably be able to have an iPhone in the future.

If they had stuck with the 5.8” size for the base iPhone, I would probably be, still, a happy iPhone customer.
 
Last edited:

ian87w

macrumors G3
Feb 22, 2020
8,704
12,638
Indonesia
If they priced it correctly then why are the sales so bad? I'm a Mini lover but it was too expensive because for the extra $100 you could get the 13 with a bigger screen and better battery life which the majority of folks want.

Now if you dropped the Mini storage from 128gb to 64gb, kept the rest of specs, and priced it at $599 then it could have taken more market share and maybe convinced SE buyers to step up so we can finally get rid of that ancient design. The SE currently costs $429 so IF the 13 Mini costs $599 its just enough for both devices to be relevant yet when the regular 13 only costs $100 more than the Mini it, in turn, made the Mini a harder sale thus more irrelevant.
Apple doesn’t care about the mini, as long as the $100 more expensive regular iPhone is selling more. Which it did. That’s the whole purpose of the mini, to push people into buying the regular iPhone that has increased in price.
 
  • Sad
Reactions: AxiomaticRubric

MauiPa

macrumors 68040
Apr 18, 2018
3,438
5,084
Why?

Unfortunately, for Apple, the mini is simply a decoy product to increase the price of the regular iPhone by $100 without anybody noticing. Once the market accepted that the regular iPhone is $799, their next step is to upsell by introducing the iPhone Max. The mini has served its purpose and won't be continued.
Yah, I’m sure that’s right. Thanks for the insight
 

Populus

macrumors 603
Aug 24, 2012
5,991
8,452
Spain, Europe
I have an idea!

Maybe Apple should work on introducing iPhone Mini Pro? Just throw in better battery life and 120Hz. Pro-Motion?
This would never work, and will never happen. If mini iPhone is already a niche market (thus, the low sell numbers), a Pro mini iPhone is an even narrower market, with a higher price tag, the sales would be even lower.

That goes without saying how a technical challenge would be putting a third camera, bigger sensors, LiDAR and a bigger battery on that size. It’s not worth it, it’s a real engineering challenge for a very low number of sales.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.