I met two people with a mini iPhone in the past month besides myself. Despite being now almost four generations out of date, we all said the same thing: Apple can take this from our cold, dead, hands. I know of many people who got the iPhone 12 or 13 mini and refused to upgrade. They went from a new iPhone every year or two to refusing to “upgrade” after four years or more years. How could a device have inspired such loyalty?
Because it’s the only phone that fits in your hand.
Seriously, touch the corners of your phone with your thumb on the same hand you’re holding it with. I can do it on my phone with minimal stretching. Put your phone in your pocket, any pocket, especially women. No, the whole phone. Don’t let half of it hang out, putting stress on the body and making it a theft target, the whole thing. Oh, you can’t?
It’s almost like your phone wasn’t even made for humans, but for some macho ideal about “bigger is better” by some people who never thought about the things they use for more than a second. It reminds me of how as pickup trucks have grown in size, they’ve become worse for doing actual work, with smaller beds that are harder to load. The iPhone 17 Pro Max is overcompensation for your pocket.
The mini iPhone has a passionate fanbase, and, if you couldn’t tell with my anger over the pointlessness of literally every other phone design, I’m one of them. I went from buying a new iPhone every year to not planning on getting a new iPhone until they release one with a screen under 6 inches again. Until then? I’m stretching out my iPhone 13 mini until it fails me.
So why did the iPhone mini fail? I’m not sure it really did. Perhaps Apple just never gave it a chance. Maybe they even wanted it to fail. Apple certainly failed the iPhone mini, and it could have been far more popular had they tried harder or listened to the consumers who bought the mini. Instead, all our phones are huge, and there’s nothing left for the people who want something that fits in the hand and pocket like a device that’s made to be held.
In This Article:
Why the iPhone mini “Failed”
Sometimes, the smaller versions are just better.
The simple answer is right in front of us: it sold fewer units, made less in profits, and Apple couldn’t keep selling it. There’s always a “bigger is better” mentality, but it wasn’t long ago that people understood that electronics should be portable. The iPod, our cell phones, they were all made to comfortable fit in pockets. We seemed to forget that. Some of that is just due to people watching more content on their devices and wanting larger devices for that purpose. Another part is the marketing. Perhaps most of it is marketing. Companies chose to push us towards larger devices. Why? The value proposition of a larger device is higher than the increase in costs, which means a company can increase the profit margin. People expect to pay more for a larger device, even though it may only cost a few pennies more to make. They’ll pay $100 more for a difference in size that costs Apple a few pennies more to make. Bigger might not be better, but it’s better for profits.
Did the Mini Sell Poorly?
The iPhone 11 is ridiculous next to the appropriately-sized iPhone 12 mini
Apple is rarely specific about sales numbers, shipments, expectations, or profit margins. However, a device that costs about the same to make as another, but costs the consumer hundreds of dollars more, likely has a much larger profit margin. An iPhone 16 Plus, therefore, likely makes much more money for Apple than an iPhone 16, as the components don’t cost the additional $100, but Apple charges that for the larger model. The iPhone 13 mini didn’t have the same advantage. While preorders were supposedly better for the iPhone 13 mini than the iPhone 14 Plus, we have to remember that the larger iPhones likely have larger profit margins. They’re worth marketing better for that reason. Sales of the iPhone 14 Plus, after Apple stuck with it, reportedly may have caught up to—and surpassed—the iPhone 13 mini. Now, however, Apple replaced the largest base model iPhone with the iPhone Air, a device larger than the iPhone 17, but with a few compromises to fit in a slimmer form factor. Apple has already marketed it better than most of their other devices, though it seems like a significant compromise for a thinner phone. We’ll have to see how well it sells after reviews come through.
The iPhone 13 mini didn’t sell well enough. It’s as simple as that. Complaints about shorter battery life, something people are already concerned about when it comes to the iPhone, would be enough to push users towards the iPhone 13 instead. On top of that, Apple barely marketed the mini. Charging less for it doesn’t make it seem like the iPhone 13 mini had the same internals as the iPhone 13. Basically, Apple could have let the iPhone 13 mini flounder because it couldn’t generate enough profits for the company unless it sold very well on its own.
The Wrong Device for the Wrong People
Tech-savvy customers are more likely to want “pro” models of devices. They’re also the people who would know about a product without marketing. Apple decided not to make a “pro” iPhone 13 mini. They didn’t market it, they didn’t make a pro model, and they insisted on making it have less battery life than the larger model, even though they simply could have made the device slightly thicker to match the battery life of the larger iPhone.
Apple basically sabotaged the iPhone mini. But why? Why make something just to ensure it doesn’t sell as well as it could?
Apple’s Mini Murder Motive
Let’s work out something easy first. Why would Apple want the iPhone 13 mini and iPhone 12 mini to be their least popular models? Simple, they’re the least profitable models to make. No molds, new process, and the smaller form factor actually doesn’t save them much money in material costs, so the significantly lower price of the mini just hurts their bottom line. They should have considered charging the same for it as the iPhone 13, and made it out to just be a size difference, but instead tried to position it as the cheaper model, and consumers took note, avoiding it.
If the iPhone mini had succeeded, it would have required more investment and diversification of their lineup. For the profitability being lower for the mini, there just waasn’t as much of an incentive to make the iPhone 13 mini succeed. Apple likely assumed they wouldn’t lose sales if they dropped it.
Of course, the cadre of people still buying used iPhone 13 minis or holding on to Apple’s last good phone for the past four years says otherwise.
But Why Make it Just to Kill It?
This is the hardest question to answer. For every new product, Apple markets it, tries to get consumer attention pointed to it, and comes up with clever ways to sell the new product. Apple didn’t do that with the iPhone mini, and had plenty of reasons not to related to profit margins. It’s obvious they killed it by simply ignoring it until it died, but why? Why make something in the first place?
I can only theorize. The first is the most obvious. Apple thought it would do better on its own and just let it go. But the second theory is a bit more interesting. What if it was just market research to begin with?
Next year, Apple is expected to release a foldable iPhone. This would be a pocket-sized device that folds out into a tablet-like experience. Could Apple have released the first mini iPhone just to see if the screen size would work well for users? It was a thought I had while wondering why they’d release such a compromised device as the iPhone Air, while charging so much for it. Why make something so thin? Perhaps they were trying to test out the for factor for a device that starts out that thin, then folds in half.
Why release something just to abandon it later? Perhaps it’s just to test out technologies that will become part of future devices. If the iPhone Air is a preview of a future foldable iPhone, could the iPhone mini have been the same?
A Mini Comeback
Could the mini return? Current rumors state it may be Apple’s biggest product at next year’s iPhone event, just not quite how you might expect it. Rather than the mini we’ve come to know and love, it will be a foldable iPhone. On the front will reportedly be a 5.5-inch display, just 0.1 inches larger than the iPhone 13 mini screen. That suggests the outer display of Apple’s first foldable iPhone will be mini-sized. It’ll be perfect for people who thought the screen might be too small too, as they can simply fold it out for a larger screen, then shut the device for a more hand-friendly display. The option to have that larger display may be the safety net people need to realize a small screen is really what they want.
There are three things that could push me to buy a new iPhone: 1) My current one breaks beyond repair, though I’d replace it with an iPhone 13 mini anyway. 2) My iPhone 13 mini is no longer secure as it’s not receiving security updates anymore. I’m likely a few years away from that though. And finally, 3) Apple releases a device with a mini-sized screen. I’m hoping for the latter, but I’m in no rush. After all, the mini is the best iPhone I’ve ever used, I can’t imagine wanting to replace it any time soon. If you still like your phone, you shouldn’t consider replacing it either.
Sources:
- Tim Hardwick, MacRumors
- Rory Mellon, Tom’s Guide
- Chance Miller, 9to5Mac