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.
this post was submitted on 16 Sep 2023
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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.
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
In April 2022, CIRP released more data suggesting that the iPhone 13 mini accounted for just 3 percent of iPhone 13 sales
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:
"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.
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 :)
The kind of person buying a Mini I would bet is closer to the kind of buyer that has historically bought the SE
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.
the iphone 5s was the best form factor for a smartphone for me. the mini is the closest thing we have to that.
I have the 13 mini and ordered the 15 pro max. Prior to the mini I had the XS Max. I clearly don’t know what I want.
You're obviously min maxing your RPG character