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The future of the iPhone Mini is... a foldable

By Victor Hristov

Updated: Sep 02, 2021, 6:05 AM

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Apple Editorials

This article may contain personal views and opinion from the author.

The future of the iPhone Mini is... a foldable

The iPhone 12 Mini was a dream phone for a very particular set of people who wanted a powerful yet compact smartphone, and Apple delivered with a device that has a smaller footprint than the current iPhone SE edition, yet with a bigger battery, the same Apple A14 chip as the rest of the iPhone family and even the same dual camera as in the much bigger non-Mini iPhone 12.

Unfortunately, this strategy of a seemingly no-compomise mini — as enticing as it looked — didn't quite work out for Apple: the iPhone 12 Mini was the worst selling of the four iPhone 12 models and in the latest June quarter it accounted for merely 5% of total iPhone sales while the older iPhone 11 sales share, for example, stood at 23%.

Needless to say, the folks over in Cupertino noticed, and rumors now insist that Apple will release only one more edition of its super-compact phone, allegedly the iPhone 13 Mini, and then will abandon this form factor entirely.

iPhone 12 Mini made up only 5% of iPhone sales in the June quarter, compared to 23% for the iPhone 12 Pro Max

What is more interesting, however, is the lesson that Apple will learn from the sub-par performance of the Mini:

Was it that the interest in super compact phones was lower?
Or was it a particular feature of the iPhone 12 Mini like the worse-than-average battery life a factor that influenced people NOT to buy it?
Or was it something else, like a price set too high for such a device?

Is there enough demand for super compact phones?

A poll that we conducted among 5,500 of our YouTube followers earlier suggests that interest in compact phones is alive and well. A whopping 48% of voters preferred a device with a screen size lower than 6.2 inches. Admittedly, the iPhone Mini falls in the super compact segment, which gathered 17% of the votes, and it was not as popular as the 6.1" to 6.2" sweet spot.

Our poll shows that many people are interested in a more compact phone

A poll of a few thousand is not the most statistically potent piece of data but it is a starting point and judging from voices in the industry, the Mini is a device that many people love and desire. The takeaway here is that there certainly seems to be some interest in phones that are compact, at least more compact than the current crop of mostly oversized devices.

Did a particular non-size related feature spoil the iPhone 12 Mini success?

There is another concern to address about the Mini in order to understand why it wasn't as popular as expected. Maybe it was the right form factor, but not with the right features? The Mini has faced quite a bit of criticism around its sub-par battery life, and we'd be the first to admit that it won't last you a full day with more intense use and that is the sore point that we hope Apple will address in the next generation device.

But battery life on the iPhone 12 Mini is not the worst in the current Apple lineup. In fact, the iPhone 12 Mini comes with a 2,227mAh battery cell, a 22% larger capacity than the 1,821mAh battery used on the iPhone SE. And yes, the iPhone SE does have an even worse real-world battery life than the Mini, yet people are still buying it in quite good numbers.

It's hard to pin-point any other feature not related to size that would have negatively affected the iPhone 12 Mini sales: the processor is the fastest on the market, the dual camera setup captures some of the best images you can get from a phone, the screen quality is great, and even the speakers are surprisingly powerful for such a "mini" device. And Apple will have a second chance at improving the battery life very soon in the upcoming iPhone 13 mini.

Or was it something else?

At the end of the day, the super compact iPhone Mini might have been a bit TOO EXTREME. Anecdotal evidence from our office is that a couple of colleagues were swearing they were getting the Mini way before it was announced, but once they actually got to hold it and try it out, they all agreed it was a bit TOO SMALL, and decided to stick with their 5.8" iPhone XS / 11 Pros. Anecdotal evidence? Sure, but convincing nonetheless considering these people were fully invested in the "mini" idea.

All of that leads me to think that Apple is indeed going to kill the Mini, but it might not abandon the concept completely. In fact, Apple might finally admit that its attempt for the perfect super compact phone was unsuccessful and take inspiration. I would go on to suggest it looks no further than to arch-rival Samsung. Its Galaxy Z Flip 3 is everything Apple could ask for: a mini phone that unfolds to a no-compromise, 6.7" screen size, and on top of that it is genuinely exciting and novel, and not least, it costs $1,000, which means big profit margins, just as Apple likes them.

Samsung might have just out-innovated Apple and the next few months will be extremely interesting: will the Galaxy Z Flip be successful? Will people flock to the new foldable form factor? And will it prove durable enough?

You can bet that Apple will be looking for answers to those questions as it secretly works on its own foldables. The all-knowledgeable insider Ming-Chi Kuo last claimed that Apple was considering an 8-inch foldable tablet for 2023, but it might just want to look into a foldable phone instead.

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Victor, a seasoned mobile technology expert, has spent over a decade at PhoneArena, exploring the depths of mobile photography and reviewing hundreds of smartphones across Android and iOS ecosystems. His passion for technology, coupled with his extensive knowledge of smartphone cameras and battery life, has positioned him as a leading voice in the mobile tech industry.