A decade ago Android phones lead by Samsung were getting bigger and bigger and Apple was sticking to the 3.5” – 4” screen sizes. That all changed in 2014 when Apple introduced the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus jumping to screen sizes of 4.7” and 5.5 inches respectively. Sales soared through the roof and Apple made a lot of money on these phones even though “bendgate” was a thing.
In 2014 I brought the iPhone 6 “normal” 4.7-inches phone, not the bigger Plus variant. I was using an iPhone 4S before (I didn’t own a 5 or a 5S), and I quickly adapted to the bigger screen size.
In 2015 I decided I was going to go big and I have always had the biggest phone that Apple has made. A part of me always thought about going back to the normal/mid sized phone instead of going big but have always ended up with the bigger size.
Buying an iPhone every year is nor good financial neither good environmental advice, but I justified it to myself that I need to have the best camera in my pocket at all times because photography is something I love. Some years, like during the iPhone 12 Pro and now the 15 Pro, both the Pro phones do not have feature parity – The 12 Pro Max had a better telephoto camera and now the 15 Pro Max has the newer 5x zoom camera. Such years the decision was made for me, and I’d get the bigger phone simply because it had the more innovate camera system. But when there has been parity between the two Pro phones where the camera has been the same I have considered getting the smaller pro phone but have ended up getting the bigger one.
In 2020 the iPhone 12 Mini came out, and I still think it was the best phone Apple released that year, yet I got the 12 Pro Max, as you guessed it – it had the better camera. The 12 Mini was loved by all but was only purchased by relatively a few. The world had moved on to bigger sizes. A year later Apple would come with the 13 Mini and this was a refined version of the 12 Mini with much better battery life, which was a complaint of the 12 Mini. But yet what did I buy? the 13 Pro Max. And what did most of the iPhone buying population buy ? Not the 13 Mini. Reports came out that the Mini wasn’t selling as what Apple had hoped with both the 12 and 13 Mini, and that Apple was planning on getting away with the Mini iPhones.
Last year with the iPhone 14 lineup there was no new Mini phone but Apple still sold the 13 Mini, but this year with the 15 the 13 Mini is gone from Apple’s lineup which does make me sad. There is a lot of love from me towards the 12 and 13 Mini, every time I have been to an Apple store I’d pick one up and be totally blown away by how small and nice it feels in my hand. Also, in terms of engineering it is much more impressive to fit in all the tech into something as small as the Mini phone compared to the bigger phones.
I have always told myself that if Apple was to make a Mini phone but have the pro features, especially the pro camera I’d get one. When I go out to take photos with the Max size phones which unarguably have the best battery life I still have to top up the battery on my phone with a battery pack, with a Mini phone due to the much smaller battery I might have to do it this more times than I’d like but I will be happy to put up with it.
The world has moved on, Mini phones are only loved and longed for by a select few and it does not make financial sense for Apple to spend on R&D and make these smaller phones. Now that the 13 Mini is gone from the lineup it might have a second coming as a future SE phone, but it will not have the greatest of cameras and I will probably not buy it. And every single time I’ll see of it out in the wild or at an Apple store i’ll be jealous.
I am keeping an eye on Amazon and eBay for a used 13 Mini in good condition, which I’d love to have one as my second phone. Do I need a second phone? No, I don’t. But I only live once, and having a second phone if you don’t need one is bad financially and is bad for the environment, but people do stupid things for love and I would want to own a phone that I love.