I just returned a pixel 7a because it was just too big. After years of android, from the g1 onwards, I was about to switch to Apple, just to get a small phone as there’s just no small android on the market. But not anymore… No reason to switch ecosystems if I know I’ll run into the same problem in a few years there.
/edit
That doesn’t mean you’re wrong. I obviously want something nobody else wants. It’s still annoying.
Its width is exactly between the regular size iPhone and the mini, but it is both taller and thicker than the larger iPhone. The iPhone mini is already a bit tall for one-handed use so the Xperias really aren’t suitable replacements :/
Sony doesn’t make small phones. The Xperia 10 and 5 are 68 mm wide and 155 and 154 mm tall. The zenfone 10 is just as wide but 146.5 mm tall, which is better but still too damn big. The iPhone Mini is 64.2 mm wide and 131.5 mm tall. That’s 1.5 cm less than the zenfone and almost 2.5 cm less than the Xperias, while still being almost half a centimeter less wide. Like, see the comparison of the Xperia 10v, the zenfone 10 and the iPhone 13 Mini:
Also if a quick Google result is anything to go on, Apple sells hundreds of millions of iPhones a year. 3% of that is still a fuckload of people and IMO proves there is a market for it. Just maybe not a market that needs yearly attention. You also have to remember that’s split between tons of SKUs, so you would expect all of them to hover in the single digits to low teens.
I got my wife a 12 Mini - she loves it. The battery life is absolutely the worst thing about it, but it sounds like the 13 Mini was a huge upgrade in that regard and I had hopes it would continue to get better with future versions.
Something else that may not be taken in to account - the kinds of people buying the Mini are I would wager on a longer upgrade period than the kinds of people who buy e.g. a base iPhone or Pro model. The kind of person buying a Mini I would bet is closer to the kind of buyer that has historically bought the SE - they probably only upgrade every 3 or 4 years rather than the more stereotypical 2. Pro numbers are also skewed by the hyper fans who upgrade yearly and therefore show up in the stats a lot more, even though they’re both a firm Apple customer.
There is also this interesting note at the end of the article:
“Other reports … overwhelmingly presented the same picture of low iPhone 14 Plus sales, to the extent that Apple was forced to slash production, suggesting that the low sales of the iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 13 mini may not have been caused by the device’s size after all.”
I think the Mini should become the new SE. Keep it on 2+ year old CPU, keep it 60Hz, at least the form factor and design language will match the rest of the lineup unlike now where the SE has a design from 2016. That would be perfect for people like my wife, who want the smallest cheapest phone that’s technically an iPhone, and are only going to upgrade every few years.
I would be fine with a longer refresh cycle, as long as they were transparent about it. We just need Tim Apple to say, “we hear you and we understand. Instead a yearly iPhone, we’ll release a mini phone every leap year on Feb 29th.” A little longer than I’d like, but I’d be ecstatic to have a clear upgrade path I could count on.
I don’t agree that people buying the mini are strictly budget buyers. There are plenty of phones with large screens for people on a budget. At this point, mini buyers are buying the mini because of the size, not the price.
I just bought a 13 mini for $78 the other day so I can upgrade from the 12 mini and hopefully get many more years or a reasonable phone. But if Apple would have dropped an iPhone 15 mini Pro for $2,000… I would have been refreshing the screen waiting for pre-orders to open up. What I can’t do is pay $1k+ for a phone I fundamentally dislike. I tied the iPhone 6; I tried the XS. I like the mini better, and it has everything to do with the size; the price is irrelevant. The 6 was my most hated iPhone of all time. I dumped it after a year, before my contract was up, and took the loss, so I could get the SE based on the 5S design. That was peak iPhone.
Apple may have lost my Vision Pro sale as well. I was pretty sure I was going to buy one, but now I see the only way to take those 3D memory videos (without looking like a creep videoing shit with a headset on) is to get an iPhone 15 Pro that is at least 6.1”. Nope. If they release a 5.4” phone with that 3D feature, I’ll buy that and the Vision Pro. Take my money…
Relative. They sold millions of them. Billions in revenue. Any other company it would have been a huge success. But apple being a Trillion dollar corporation, they didn’t sell well enough.
It was more about where Apple could focus to generate more profit and have the fewest models they would need to support.
If they decide they want to produce 4 general models (like with the 15), they produce the 4 they will sell the best and generate the most profit.
Even if a 5th still has some market as a mini there’s diminishing returns for tooling up another full model they already know won’t have the same profit potential.
My guess is that Apple tools up a mini just often enough to have 1 mini model that can support the most current iOS version, so every 5 or 6 years they’ll make a mini model that die hard mini fans can keep until iOS is no longer supported on it.
I haven’t bought a single mini because it’s always nerfed in some way. I don’t want to compromise for not being able to comfortably hold the expensive model.
As soon as Apple releases a mini model that’s on par with the rest of the flagship lineup, I imagine these metrics will tell a different story.
Unfortunately it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen any time soon.
You’re right. That one I was weak on my spec knowledge as I got the 12 and skipped that year. I do remember being disappointed in no 14 mini. If only they had kept going for one more generation they might’ve had a few more upgrade from a prior model :/
Yes thank you someone already pointed that out. I was mistaken about the 13 mini, admittedly because I had the 12 and skipped the 13.
Still, I was disappointed to see no 14 mini, and even more to see no mini at all this year. Additionally we had only 2 release cycles to buy/upgrade. IMO iPhones last so long it wasn’t even really enough time to know for sure if people liked them or not.
Because the 12 and 13 minis didn’t sell for shit. That’s why.
There’s no point in keeping around a product line that nobody is buying.
Yeah great.
I just returned a pixel 7a because it was just too big. After years of android, from the g1 onwards, I was about to switch to Apple, just to get a small phone as there’s just no small android on the market. But not anymore… No reason to switch ecosystems if I know I’ll run into the same problem in a few years there.
/edit That doesn’t mean you’re wrong. I obviously want something nobody else wants. It’s still annoying.
Both Sony and Asus make great small phones.
Aren’t they all closer in size to the non-mini iPhones than the minis?
A bit taller but about the same width (3.8mm wider for Xperia 10 V).
Its width is exactly between the regular size iPhone and the mini, but it is both taller and thicker than the larger iPhone. The iPhone mini is already a bit tall for one-handed use so the Xperias really aren’t suitable replacements :/
Sony doesn’t make small phones. The Xperia 10 and 5 are 68 mm wide and 155 and 154 mm tall. The zenfone 10 is just as wide but 146.5 mm tall, which is better but still too damn big. The iPhone Mini is 64.2 mm wide and 131.5 mm tall. That’s 1.5 cm less than the zenfone and almost 2.5 cm less than the Xperias, while still being almost half a centimeter less wide. Like, see the comparison of the Xperia 10v, the zenfone 10 and the iPhone 13 Mini:
The iPhone SE line is pretty small with a 4.7" screen.
And rumours are the next one is going to be 6.1 inches.
From the article
I may never be one of the 1%, but at least I can proudly proclaim my membership of the 3%
Also if a quick Google result is anything to go on, Apple sells hundreds of millions of iPhones a year. 3% of that is still a fuckload of people and IMO proves there is a market for it. Just maybe not a market that needs yearly attention. You also have to remember that’s split between tons of SKUs, so you would expect all of them to hover in the single digits to low teens.
I got my wife a 12 Mini - she loves it. The battery life is absolutely the worst thing about it, but it sounds like the 13 Mini was a huge upgrade in that regard and I had hopes it would continue to get better with future versions.
Something else that may not be taken in to account - the kinds of people buying the Mini are I would wager on a longer upgrade period than the kinds of people who buy e.g. a base iPhone or Pro model. The kind of person buying a Mini I would bet is closer to the kind of buyer that has historically bought the SE - they probably only upgrade every 3 or 4 years rather than the more stereotypical 2. Pro numbers are also skewed by the hyper fans who upgrade yearly and therefore show up in the stats a lot more, even though they’re both a firm Apple customer.
There is also this interesting note at the end of the article:
I think the Mini should become the new SE. Keep it on 2+ year old CPU, keep it 60Hz, at least the form factor and design language will match the rest of the lineup unlike now where the SE has a design from 2016. That would be perfect for people like my wife, who want the smallest cheapest phone that’s technically an iPhone, and are only going to upgrade every few years.
I would be fine with a longer refresh cycle, as long as they were transparent about it. We just need Tim Apple to say, “we hear you and we understand. Instead a yearly iPhone, we’ll release a mini phone every leap year on Feb 29th.” A little longer than I’d like, but I’d be ecstatic to have a clear upgrade path I could count on.
I don’t agree that people buying the mini are strictly budget buyers. There are plenty of phones with large screens for people on a budget. At this point, mini buyers are buying the mini because of the size, not the price.
I just bought a 13 mini for $78 the other day so I can upgrade from the 12 mini and hopefully get many more years or a reasonable phone. But if Apple would have dropped an iPhone 15 mini Pro for $2,000… I would have been refreshing the screen waiting for pre-orders to open up. What I can’t do is pay $1k+ for a phone I fundamentally dislike. I tied the iPhone 6; I tried the XS. I like the mini better, and it has everything to do with the size; the price is irrelevant. The 6 was my most hated iPhone of all time. I dumped it after a year, before my contract was up, and took the loss, so I could get the SE based on the 5S design. That was peak iPhone.
Apple may have lost my Vision Pro sale as well. I was pretty sure I was going to buy one, but now I see the only way to take those 3D memory videos (without looking like a creep videoing shit with a headset on) is to get an iPhone 15 Pro that is at least 6.1”. Nope. If they release a 5.4” phone with that 3D feature, I’ll buy that and the Vision Pro. Take my money…
Where did you find that affordable used 13 mini by the way?
It was new from AT&T, I get deals every 2 years through work.
Probably right about the rate of buying for people like me - I upgraded to the 13 Mini from the iPhone 7. Here’s to the iPhone 19 Mini :)
I upgraded from an SE to a 13 mini
I love my mini, going to hold on to it as long as I can and hope they offer a refreshed model a couple times a decade.
That’s really sad. My wife loves her iPhone mini. It’s great for people who don’t want a giant phone in their hands.
Relative. They sold millions of them. Billions in revenue. Any other company it would have been a huge success. But apple being a Trillion dollar corporation, they didn’t sell well enough.
It’s not really that people weren’t buying.
It was more about where Apple could focus to generate more profit and have the fewest models they would need to support.
If they decide they want to produce 4 general models (like with the 15), they produce the 4 they will sell the best and generate the most profit.
Even if a 5th still has some market as a mini there’s diminishing returns for tooling up another full model they already know won’t have the same profit potential.
My guess is that Apple tools up a mini just often enough to have 1 mini model that can support the most current iOS version, so every 5 or 6 years they’ll make a mini model that die hard mini fans can keep until iOS is no longer supported on it.
I bought two. One for me and my wife, love them.
I haven’t bought a single mini because it’s always nerfed in some way. I don’t want to compromise for not being able to comfortably hold the expensive model.
As soon as Apple releases a mini model that’s on par with the rest of the flagship lineup, I imagine these metrics will tell a different story.
Unfortunately it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen any time soon.
The 13 Mini wasn’t nerfed in any appreciable way, that I recall. Slightly worse battery life was the only downside
If they brought a mini pro version it would be a no brainer. I need telephoto and promotion and the island in a small package.
The ultra wide lens’s is such a bad camera in my opinion. I would have rather had telephoto.
You’re right. That one I was weak on my spec knowledge as I got the 12 and skipped that year. I do remember being disappointed in no 14 mini. If only they had kept going for one more generation they might’ve had a few more upgrade from a prior model :/
The big advantage of the 13 Mini over the 12 Mini was the battery life was half decent
The 12 mini is decent, but my aging 2 year old battery needs to be swapped.
It wasn’t nerfed at all. It was exact same cup and camera and a slightly higher resolution display.
The battery was smaller because the phone was smaller, that was it.
Yes thank you someone already pointed that out. I was mistaken about the 13 mini, admittedly because I had the 12 and skipped the 13.
Still, I was disappointed to see no 14 mini, and even more to see no mini at all this year. Additionally we had only 2 release cycles to buy/upgrade. IMO iPhones last so long it wasn’t even really enough time to know for sure if people liked them or not.