Is Apple’s unwillingness to make another iPhone Mini a missed opportunity?
Was it the right phone at the wrong time?
#apple #iphonemini #iphone
The iPhone 12 Mini. Photo: HWZ
According to Apple analyst Mark Gurman, Apple has no plans to make another small iPhone.
If you recall, Apple introduced its first “mini” iPhone with the iPhone 12 Mini in 2020. It had the same design and aesthetics as the iPhone 12 but had a smaller 5.4-inch display. In fact, it was so small that it was smaller than even the iPhone SE.
Unfortunately, sales of the iPhone 12 Mini were said to be abysmal. A report by the Consumer Intelligence Research Numbers in early 2021 said sales of the iPhone 12 Mini only made up 6% of sales of iPhones between October and November 2020.
The iPhone 12 Mini was followed by the iPhone 13 Mini in 2021, which also sold poorly and was quickly discontinued when Apple released the iPhone 15 series in 2023.
To be clear, the iPhone Mini was, in some ways, a flawed product. Yes, it was extremely compact, but its small screen took some getting used to and its battery life wasn’t the best. Despite these shortcomings, there remains a small but vocal group of users who have been clamouring for Apple to reintroduce a compact phone.
The cheapest new iPhone, the iPhone 16E, has a 6.1-inch display. Photo: HWZ
A part of me wonders if things would be different if Apple did a small phone now. If you remember, the iPhone 12 Mini was introduced in September 2020, near the start of the dreadful Covid-19 pandemic. Its successor, the iPhone 13 Mini, was introduced a year later, right smack in the middle of the pandemic.
Stay-at-home orders during the pandemic meant people had no need for a small phone that was easy to carry around. Such orders were only mostly lifted in 2022, while the world only largely returned to normal in 2023. By then, it was too late for the iPhone Mini.
And with the discontinuation of the iPhone SE, it means Apple no longer offers a phone that has a display smaller than 6 inches. The new entry-level iPhone 16E has a 6.1-inch display—the same as the iPhone 16.
Still, Apple is widely expected to unveil a new ultra-slim version of the iPhone later this year. It’s rumoured to have a 6.6-inch display, so it won’t be anywhere near as compact as the iPhone Mini, but its thickness of around 5.5mm does mean it will be considerably less voluminous than a regular iPhone.
And as for the iPhone Mini, perhaps it was a case of the right phone at the wrong time.
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