The iPhone 13 mini is dead, leaving small phone lovers in a lurch
The iPhone 13 mini is dead, leaving small phone lovers in a lurch
arstechnica.com
The iPhone 13 mini is dead, leaving small phone lovers in a lurch
112 comments
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It's probably not gonna happen but maybe they'll fill that gap with the next iPhone SE
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Sadly I think the latest rumours were that they’d use the Xr/11 chassis for the new SE. hopefully not because if they use the 12/13 mini… oh boy it’d be great
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I'm hoping against hope that Google copies Apple and turns the Pixel 5 into a mold for the Google version of Pixel SE. I know it's not happening, but that phone is close to perfect for me, it's still my daily driver. Just give me a P5 SE with updated guts every two or three years.
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Thing is, very few people bought the small phone. The community that wants them is very vocal, but they don’t show up in big numbers at the cash register.
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Luckily for you the pixel 8 is rumored to be around the same size as the pixel 6a, smaller than the pixel 7.
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As someone with tiny hands and tiny fingers, I've been thinking long and hard about this and in the future, when my 13 mini lets out its last breath, I'll probably just go with a regular-sized iPhone and use Voice Control to swipe right and "go back" when I use it one-handed, since reachability doesn't address how I struggle to reach the far end of the screen with one-hand (I even have to struggle a bit with the mini). Sucks that I'll have to use voice control as a workaround, but I mostly bought an iPhone for the Apple Watch anyway.
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The solution that I have been bouncing around is to get the watch for quick use, and then a larger phone to act more as a tablet. Of course this requires me to have multiple devices, which is annoying. But here we are.
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In Settings -> Accessibility-> Touch -> Assistive Touch you can configure a small button the floats on the screen (you can move it around), providing access to all sort of gestures and functions one handed.
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Tried that but none of the gestures include "go back" nor "swipe right" (the closest thing is "scroll right"). Even used a custom gesture as well and that didn't work.
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I considered getting a Mini a couple years ago. I tried one. It was not small enough for the reasons you describe. I have a regular sized iPhone for that reason.
I’ve long said the mini flopped not because people don’t want small phones, but rather because it wasn’t small enough to be worth the tradeoff of a smaller screen.
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Run a Pop Socket on your phone and buy a couple of these:
PopSockets Flexible Phone Mount & Stand, Phone Tripod Mount, Universal Device Mount - Black https://a.co/d/0aYtsed
It makes an S22U so much more ergonomic for smaller hands. YMMV.
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Have you tried just getting bigger hands
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I’ll never part with mine!
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not to worry, forced obsolescence will take care of that for you.
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was just doing the math yesterday to see when I was going to have to get rid of mine. I get it, I just wish they would have kept it going
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I'd been using an iPod Touch 4G thru 7G, for my everything pocket computer. Apple killed the iPod Touch, so I migrated to iPhone 13 mini just over a year ago. Sorry folx, they prolly killed the 13 mini cuz of me. Any other Apple products you'd like me to latch onto, so Apple will kill it? :-(
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Lol I feel like this happens to me too. You like the fit of that T-shirt? Discontinued. You like the shape of those eyeglasses? Discontinued. You want a new car that starts up without 5,000 microchips? Haha too bad. You like buying phones that you can’t use without physically hurting your hands? Cool, enjoy the new 16 inch iPhone, it’s the smallest available. You’ll never leave it in your pocket or bag, because it doesn’t fit in either one. Oh and you need a speaker adapter to hear things without earbuds. That’ll be $2,500.
Sent from my dying iPhone SE 2020.
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I feel lurched.
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Android welcomes you brothers and sisters
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I can see the appeal of these little phones, but I think the batteries weren't as good as the other counterparts... so that aspect alone made me pass them.
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They also couldn’t fit the pro cameras. If you wanted a small phone, you had to accept shit battery and base model cameras.
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The solution is obvious. Don't buy another goddamn iPhone.
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There aren't that many Android phones that actually are smaller.
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Checkout GSMARENA
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- Why? Why do they make so few small phones? We have the tech, and people like me really prefer it over the behemoths of the modern day. WHYYYYYYY?
EDIT: That gif came out WAY bigger than I expected. Apologies to your eyes, my friends.
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As I get older, the smaller screens are more difficult for me. As for others, I don't know.
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I posted this from my galaxy s23 while wiping my butt with my other hand
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iPhone 15 is just 1 mm larger than S23
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The galaxy S23 isn't small. 6.1 inches isn't small
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This is the best summary I could come up with:
That marks the end of life for arguably the best premium small phone designed for one-handed use.
Market research has consistently shown that most users want bigger screens and batteries, which are incompatible with a smaller phone.
Supply chain analysts and journalists with inside knowledge have generally agreed that Apple could update the iPhone SE as soon as next year—but most rumors have suggested that it would go bigger, not smaller.
Many op-eds have been written at tech sites (including this one, by me) saying it's important for Apple to offer a one-handed phone size, even if it's less popular than the bigger models.
That said, supporting an additional size adds extra supply chain and production overhead—and it may not be the most financially prudent decision for Apple if it's confident that it can covert mini owners to join the majority and opt for larger phones instead.
Chances are that axing the iPhone 13 mini won't do much to hurt Apple's earnings, but it leaves a minority of consumers without an important option, and I still think that's bad news.
The original article contains 382 words, the summary contains 180 words. Saved 53%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
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I only want a phone that cannot double as a scutum is that too much to ask
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A what?
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I had to look it up. A scutum is a type of Roman shield.
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scutum
skyoo͞′təm
noun- A scute.
- A shield-shaped dorsal sclerite or plate of certain insects and arachnids.
- An oblong shield made of boards or wickerwork covered with leather, with sometimes an iron rim; carried chiefly by the heavy-armed infantry of the Roman army.
I'm assuming the third definition is the one we're after. But it could be an alligator scute, ya never know. (https://animals.howstuffworks.com/reptiles/alligator.htm). And having looked at scutes, I think a phone shaped like that would be all kinds of amusing!
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I was really looking forward to the Balmuda phone, but it also disappeared from the market https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/11/meet-this-unique-compact-android-phone-from-a-japanese-toaster-company/
I'd like to see a more ergonomic phone; it's time to evolve from just a thin slab.
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Even Samsungs good update policy doesn't beat Apple, where I can easily get 7 years worth of major versions (and still minor updates afterwards).
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For my needs it works out much cheaper to buy a new android phone every few years, but it is such a waste.
Depending on manufacturer you get up to 5 years of security updates, but the phone usually costs up to 800 euros less so it simply doesn't make sense to buy the iphone.
You end up throwing a perfectly good phone in a drawer, never to be used again.
In ye olden days, it didn't really matter that the phone was less secure. But with banking apps, you have no real choice in the matter.
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iPhone 15 is not that much bigger compared to S10e, so if you want a small phone like iPhone 13 mini you’re out of luck.
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Unfortunately it hasn't received a security update since March and Samsung have put it as EOL. Still a great phone but it's not a small phone, it's about the same size as the S23, it was just small compared to the S10 and S20 which were stupidly big.
At this point, get an S23 or a normal iPhone if the S10e was a suitable size.
Sent from my Galaxy S10e.
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112 comments
Perhaps the perfect opportunity to stop buying Apple products?
The options on Android aren’t much better, unless you go for some obscure manufacturer who won’t support the phone with updates 1 year after its life cycle.
Apple was for a while the only remaining flagship manufacturer who actually provided mini models. Ironic, because Android is supposed to be the alternative providing more options.
Moto is still kicking, Samsung has small models too, Asus is going alright, Sony at least the are skinny.
Literally every one of them is better, because none of them are running iOS. That's my subjective opinion.
Samsung and Google both support devices for 5 years now. Doesn't matter how long Apple "supports" the software because they don't support the hardware.
As if there are equivalent and small phones with Android.
i wish fairphone filled that market gap, and throw in a headphone jack as well.
Depends on their needs. If they purely want a phone that fits nice in a pocket, a Z Flip will do. But if they really want the small screen, there are niche brands like Unihertz, which recently released the Jelly Star, a 3" phone with pretty decent specs.
My pixel 5 was awesome but then they started making their phones big again
There are a couple. Namely the Zenfone 8.
I find that to be a good option. Unfortunately, given my current needs, the Apple Watch is the best device to meet them, so I'm stuck with the iPhone. And yes, I've researched the Galaxy Watch, too, but app integration and health measurements are considered lackluster compared to the AW.
that's always the problem with android based stuff. good software is the one thing they can't do.