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Comment by GekkePrutser | Hacker News Reader

Apple's limited success is not only a factor of the screen size but also market positioning. The mini is inferior in some specs to other iPhones but at the same time really high end as far as mobiles in general go. That makes it a niche product even if screen size was not a factor at all.

It targets people that have plenty of cash for a flagship but are willing to forego the top tier specs for a smaller size. Apple prefers you just buy the pro. And if you don't have much cash you can get the reheated 2017 iphone 8 with SE slapped on it :)

I bet if they made a mini T the price of an SE with a more limited camera and screen spec than the current mini it would take 50% of SE sales away.

You can't judge the market viability of one aspect based on a single model.

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The mini is inferior in some specs to other iPhones

I’m typing this on my iPhone 13 mini; saying it’s inferior to the rest of the iPhone 13 is an overstatement.

All of the core features are the same as they rest of the line.

Ironically it’s the largest iPhone I’ve owned, having upgraded from an iPhone 7 and a 6s before that.

There probably won’t be iPhone 14 mini, so I’m glad I was able to get this form factor before I had no choice.

They really had the room to put a x2 zoom camera on there though... what a shame they didn't.

The biggest issue for me is the battery. The first mini had horrible battery life, I know the 13 is better. The fact is I'm spoiled rotten with the Pro battery life and don't see the size winning me over.

Same—I just bought a new iPhone…I thought the mini was right for me, but after three days of using it, it was clear that the battery life was worse than my years-old Pro. So I returned it and got the Pro instead.

The other challenge was that I found it hard to go back to the smaller onscreen keyboard and display. I think I was deluded about my vision being as good as it was 10 years ago!

Try swipe typing, it really helps make small screens a lot more comfortable for me. I have one tiny Android phone with 2.5" display and it actually makes that one usable.

Wait, is the iPhone Mini larger than an iPhone 6/7/8?! I thought it was smaller.

iPhone mini is almost exactly the same size in the hand (2.5" width) as the iPhone4/5 and smaller than 6/7/8/SE (2.7" width) , but the screen coverage/diag is significantly larger than the SE (85%/5.4" vs 60%/4.7").

I think he meant diag screen size? The 11/12/13 are 6.1" while maxs are 6.7"

Yes, I meant diagonal screen size.

Dimensions in millimeters:

13: 71.5 x 146.7 x 7.65 13 Mini: 64.2 x 131.5 x 7.65 3rd gen SE: 67.3 x 138.4 x 7.3 1st gen SE: 58.6 x 123.8 x 7.6

I strongly prefer the 1st gen SE because it's significantly easier for me to use with one hand, it's got a completely flat back (no camera bulge), and it's got a headphone jack and home button.

All the same reasons for me. Plus I like cheap. I just bought a 3rd gen SE but only because my 7 was on its last legs. The idea that an iPhone 7 isn’t good enough anymore is just absolutely silly to me. I was hoping the 3rd gen SE would be a throwback in size and cost $300, but I didn’t get my wish.

I mean compared to the pro.

I would consider both flagship models, considering the pricing. For me mid-range is < 500€ (and normally way below that) so the iPhone SE doesn't even qualify here in Europe (it's 529€).

My current mid-range phone is a Samsung A52s which costs 329€.

But perhaps my long Android history has skewed my pricing concepts somewhat.

Even the small phone user base is probably fragmented between people who want a lower cost phone and people like me that want the Pro or better, just smaller.

Apple already has the SE for the low cost market. They have positioned the mini as the mid-range. What they're missing is a high-end small phone. I'd happily pay for it.

iPhone 13 mini.

Having said that, the specs of the SE are nothing to sneeze at.

It doesn't have the full camera.

Edit: I'm not sure what the disagreement is but it's objectively verifiable that the 13 Mini does not have the same camera setup as the 13 Pro.

The current SE isn't a small phone; it's a previous-era-of-design phone. It's a phone from before phones gave you as much screen as would fit on the front face of the body. If you want that, you can just buy any new-old-stock phone from 5 years ago; they're all cheap, they're all that size, and they're all (IMHO) painful to read or watch anything on.

A low-cost small phone would be the opposite of the SE: not good-specs, bad-screen; but rather all-screen, bad-specs. An iPhone Mini minus-minus.

Agreed, I think this is not only for the reason of cheap manufacturing (I doubt it's a lot cheaper than just reusing the iPhone XR case). I think it's just a conscious disincentivisation (word?) from Apple to avoid cannibalising their mainline models :) I'm surprised it's so popular, because I really don't miss the bezel. All-screen phones are a great advancement.

If I had an iPhone I would seriously miss the fingerprint scanner but this is not an issue on Android, the in-screen option works amazingly well.

Indeed, I desperately want a smaller phone, but I heavily use the camera on my phone and in the end I decided I wasn't willing to give up camera quality for the iPhone Mini. So Apple's data may suggest that I don't want a small phone, but the reality is that I want a small phone that's actually as good as the big ones. No one has offered that.

My last couple of phone purchases have actually been camera purchases.

I got an iPhone XR for the low light performance of the camera, not because I needed a new phone.

I got a 13Pro for the cameras and lidar, not because I needed a new phone.

My reality is I want a great camera that fits in my pocket and is durable - that also makes calls, runs Signal, streams Spotify/AppleMusic, and has a usable web browser...

Same, I went from original SE to 11 pro max because of camera envy. Maybe once all of my kids are a bit older I won't care as much about the camera though.

> The mini is inferior in some specs to other iPhones but at the same time really high end as far as mobiles in general go. That makes it a niche product even if screen size was not a factor at all.

I feel like it being smaller is a factor in it having inferior specs: much easier to fit a better camera etc into a larger body.

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