Apple may discontinue the iPhone mini after a brief three-year run

[Shawn Knight]

Bottom line: Apple's iPhone mini is likely to be discontinued later this week with the introduction of the iPhone 15 family. If you are interested in a smaller-screen iPhone with modern-ish specs, now might be one of your last opportunities to pick one up.

The iPhone mini was introduced as the iPhone 12 mini alongside the standard iPhone 12 in 2020 as affordable alternatives to the flagship iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max. It featured a smaller 5.4-inch display compared to the 6.1-inch screen of the base iPhone 12 but was otherwise functionally similar.

A year later, Apple refreshed the line with the iPhone 13 mini as a smaller variant of the standard iPhone 13. The iPhone 13 mini retained the 5.4-inch screen but got an upgrade to the A15 Bionic SoC, among other improvements. It is still available directly from Apple as of this writing starting at $599 but according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, stock is running low and some variants aren't scheduled to go out until late this month or in early October according to Apple's own shipping estimates.

With Apple set to introduce its new iPhone 15 line on Tuesday, do not be surprised to see the iPhone 13 mini quietly disappear. Apple did not carry on with the mini branding with the iPhone 14 line and there is no reason to believe we will see it reappear on the iPhone 15.

The four-phone iPhone 15 lineup is expected to consist of the iPhone 15, the iPhone 15 Plus, the iPhone 15 Pro and the iPhone 15 Pro Max. The entry-level iPhone 15 will have a screen measuring 6.1 inches diagonally, which is far larger than the 5.4-inch panel on the iPhone 13 mini.

The iPhone SE is still lingering as yet another alternative for those seeking a smaller iPhone. Its screen measures just 4.7 inches from corner to corner, however, and is more akin to iPhones of yesteryear before the big screen craze hit.

Image credit: Rajat Yadav

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https://www.techspot.com/news/100111-apple-likely-discontinue-iphone-mini-following-three-year.html

 

[MakeMSGreatAgain]

A shame... I quite like my mini, which is physically just a tiny bit bigger than the original iphone SE. I loved my SE for many years but after multiple drops and screen replacements, the SIM slot eventually started to not maintain connection to the card.

Honestly I think they should just make the SE's the "mini". I don't think anyone even knew what SE stood for...

 

[Raytrace3D]

Why? The mini is useful. I'm the only one in my household that doesn't use the mini - everyone else prefers it over the regular size.

 

[ZackL04]

The mini is my fave by far

Though I would prefer a stronger battery and better camera

Ive been using a 12 mini since the 13 mini released, probably grab a 13 mini here soon…

 

[Theinsanegamer]

I used to be a huge fan of tiny phones, I lamented when 5" became the standard.

Recently I found my OG iphone SE and played with it for a bit. And outside of it fitting easily into my pocket, I forgot how rough it is trying to do things like video playback or texting on such a screen. I'm not a spring chicken anymore I guess.

Sucks apple wont keep it around, since it is a niche that nobody else fills.

Why? The mini is useful. I'm the only one in my household that doesn't use the mini - everyone else prefers it over the regular size.

Because sales.

In march 2022, the 13 mini made up a whopping 3% of sales

https://9to5mac.com/2022/04/21/cirp...t-years-despite-tiny-interest-in-iphone-mini/

This was the primary reason there was no 14 mini. There's an argument to be made that 3% of iphone is still quite a few phones, approx. 6.75 million phones in 2022, but my guess is apple sees no reason to continue making them when the SE is roughly the same size, and they have the standard 14 and plus, and the 14 pro and pro plus phones.

A shame... I quite like my mini, which is physically just a tiny bit bigger than the original iphone SE. I loved my SE for many years but after multiple drops and screen replacements, the SIM slot eventually started to not maintain connection to the card.

Honestly I think they should just make the SE's the "mini". I don't think anyone even knew what SE stood for...

There's a good possibility of the mini becoming the new SE, if they want to keep costs down, but they may also use the iphone 11 chassis.

 

[sorten]

Old news, right? Apple discontinued refreshes for the mini last year, and they only support 2 generations at a time. With the 15 coming out they won't produce any generation 13 phones

 

[Beerfloat]

Beware the vocal minority that loudly testifies how much they want a thing. There's not really much of a market for small phones, at least not premium ones.

 

[BabyFaceLee]

This is not news.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Beware the vocal minority that loudly testifies how much they want a thing. There's not really much of a market for small phones, at least not premium ones.

I think there is a market, but it was saturated by the 11 mini, and the 12 mini gained a reputation for having terrible battery life.

Even so, between the 12 mini and 13 mini apple moved over 13 million phones in 2022. Starting at $600 each. $7.8 BILLION in revenue from a "niche" market is pretty good, there are hundreds of niche hobby markets that would love revenue like that.