23. October 2021 · Categories: Apple

Rumors are that Apple will not provide an update for the iPhone 13 mini, because of disappointing sales. I believe this is because it is not mini enough. The standard size iPhone is just small enough to hold in one hand, and scroll through content, and the mini is already too large for typing one handed.

iPhone Sizes

The main culprit is the width. 64.2mm are 5.6mm more than the 5, and only 2.8mm less than the 6. It does not feel small in hand, it feels pretty close to a 6.

I believe Apple should recognize that the mini is a speciality phone, put it onto a triennial update schedule, and make it small:

  • 59 mm width would make it fit nicely into a hand again

  • 120g weight is the sweet point so that it does not feel too dense

  • 9mm depth would still be acceptable if needed.

For the small size, some compromises will be necessary. Important is to keep the battery life of the 13 mini, the full frontal screen with Face ID, and front and back cameras. With corona, adding Touch ID to the power button as well would be nice. I prefer having only one large back lens, similar to the normal on the 13 Pro, together with Lidar to provide some depth sensing. It does not need mmWave support, the standard 5G bands can provide 100 Mbit/s easily. It does not need a glass back, a combination of aluminium and carbon fibers can keep the weight down.