If you’re a frequent reader here, you may already know the story. I first got my hands on the iPhone 12 mini back in 2021. In my review for it, I called it “The first iPhone I’ve loved in years,” and Apple’s “best iPhone design ever.” The iPhone 13 mini improved upon it in every way, and I loved it so much I’ve even reviewed it multiple times. It’s also the last iPhone I’ve purchased. I went from buying a new iPhone every year to sticking with the one that worked. The iPhone 14 model year didn’t have a mini version. Apple sabotaged the mini. They didn’t market it, sold it during the pandemic when people couldn’t hold it to try it out, allowed misconceptions about it to spread, and for many tech lovers, who would be quick to try something new, it was a downgrade. Apple never made the “iPhone Pro mini” we so desperately wanted. I downgraded from pro models because the size was more important to me. Not every techie agrees, but I stand by my decision, all these years later. I could “upgrade” at any time, but I could never have back a phone that fits in my hand.
I’d buy a top-of-the-line iPhone 18 Pro mini right now if I could, even if it cost me over $1,300. Apple made the iPhone mini seem lesser, even though it was just as good as the larger model in all ways except a slight impact on battery life. For that it had a slightly higher density display, fit in hands and pockets, and, due to its size and weight, was less prone to damage. Perhaps that’s why I cracked the screen on nearly every iPhone I owned except the iPhone 4, the iPhone 12 mini, and iPhone 13 mini.
There is great demand for a smaller phone now. People want gadgets again. The iPod is making a comeback. Used Walkmans are—frustratingly—getting more expensive. There are two Blackberry-like smartphones releasing this year, and flip phones, dumb phones, feature phones, and even smartphones with small screens are more popular than they’ve been in decades.
People want something that isn’t just another glass slab. They want more than a social media addiction in their pocket. I’ve preordered a Sidephone and a Clicks Communicator, potentially leaving the iPhone behind because it just doesn’t have what I want in a phone anymore. I want light, compact, and easy to use. Apple has completely abandoned the market of people who want to use their phones, not just mindlessly scroll, helpless to their addictive feeds.
But there might be a way back. A few ways back, in fact. One that tackles the market that just doesn’t want another addiction in their pocket anymore. The other that could feed that addiction in a new way, or perhaps even help curb it. It’s never been a better time for Apple to bring the mini phone back, and in a new, interesting, and more modern way.
Regardless of how they do it, both your pocket and dried, unblinking eyes will thank you.
Less Screen, Less Distraction
The Sidephone might be my most anticipated phone of the year. Sorry, iPhone “Ultra”
The Sidephone became an attractive phone for me for a few reasons. The first is obviously their innovative keypad, which allows you to swap out a number pad, a predictive qwerty pad, a gamepad, and a “sundial” that looks like an iPod clickwheel. Next is that it has a non-Google version of Android, so I could use Android without Google looking over my shoulder constantly. Finally, the size. It’s smaller than a modern smartphone. Even with the keypad, the screen is just a 2.8-inch display. Try scrolling on Reels for four hours a day on that! After they update it to Android 16, it might just be the perfect little device to help you disconnect from distractions without disconnecting from others, all while maintaining privacy and security. I can’t wait to give it a test.
The Sidephone isn’t alone. There’s the Unihertz Jellyphone and Titan 2. The Clicks Communicator. Small, compact, and different is in. People are getting tired of their phones. They’re tired of the endless scroll. We demand a way to stay in touch with the people we care about without being enslaved to algorithms more addictive than gambling! For that, there’s the emerging field of phones made to help you communicate without being distracted, and this is precisely where Apple could come in.
The iPhone 13 mini could be smaller, if you ask me. Hold it how you normally would, at arm’s length, and the display is larger than a 55-inch display 15 feet away. If it’s big enough for your living room, it’s big enough for your messaging. In fact, I’d have preferred it be smaller. A 5-inch screen or smaller would have been perfect for me. Something more sized like the iPhone 4, but with an edge-to-edge display. An iPod Classic with a big screen. I wanted a true pocket companion, not something that runs my life.
Such a device would be perfect today. The demand is there and less connected tech is becoming trendy and interesting. A screen around the 5-inch mark, perfect for texting, chatting, watching movies, and everything you want a phone to do, but slightly less attention holding than scrolling TikTok on a nearly 7-inch display.
Apple even has new branding that could work for such a model: iPhone Neo. An iPhone for the person who wants to give up Instagram Reels, but not iMessage. People like me who would rather ditch the Apple ecosystem altogether than use devices that cost an arm and a leg and don’t even give me what I want.
I need the iPhone Neo. It’s my top choice for an iPhone that meets the demands of the modern consumer. But there is another way Apple could do it, and I’m afraid to say it’s more likely to be Apple’s choice, as Apple has gotten so stale and uncreative in their advanced age. The same reason they killed the iPhone mini is exactly why an iPhone Neo is a stretch of the imagination: profit margins. If Apple’s charging less for it but still loading it with modern or even binned hardware, it may have lower margins, and for Apple, building a new product category, being an innovator, making an investment in the future, none of these are as interesting as immediate profitability. Apple has become just like every other too big to fail corporation, generating the product version of AI slop, regurgitated designs from the recent past, never something extraordinarily new.
But the MacBook Neo has given me hope for an iPhone Neo, not that we’d see it for a few years. Apple is always a few years behind the market’s demands.
iPhone Ultra Flip
The inner display will be around the size of the iPad mini though, and that’s a huge display I just can’t imagine wanting on the go. The real solution I’d like to see isn’t an iPhone that becomes a small iPad. It’s a small iPhone that becomes a large iPhone. An iPad on the go is silly to me. Anywhere I’d use it, from work to the cafe, I’d just prefer a larger display with a firm display that can use a textured screen protector and Apple Pencil with a metal tip, like an actual iPad mini. But a flipping iPhone? I’d flipping love that.
This design has a massive drawback. It would be too small for even me. It’s only good for showing notifications as icons, or perhaps some music controls. It’s not enough to use as a phone on the outer display.
This, as an iPhone, is the dream
Instead, a design more like what we’ve seen from those who would be major competitors, such as Samsung and Motorola feels more likely. The display would be as large as it could be on the outer folding surface, with the ratio taking on more of a square shape. In fact, it could be a smaller version of the ratio for the outer display on Apple’s iPhone Ultra, or perhaps a new ratio that makes the unfolded screen taller than it is wide. I’d love a taller screen ratio for the iPhone, giving more space for the keyboard, a narrower shape that makes it easier to hold, and more space on the home screen. Apple hasn’t changed the ratios of their devices for a long time, and with the slow pace of innovation at Apple, it’s unlikely they will. Still, the iPhone Ultra will feature a new display ratio on the outer display. Maybe Apple’s finally ready for something new.
It only took them two decades.
In a Perfect World…
In a perfect world, there’s an iPhone for everyone. The people who want an iPad in their pocket, those who want a small phone that turns into a large phone, one for those who don’t want a flip phone, and a small, easy-to-hold model that’s perfect for people looking to reduce distractions with a cute small smartphone.
The idea would be two high-end “pro” models, a consumer model, and a budget model. The Flip and Fold would satisfy users who want a smaller iPhone, but need pro-level features. These could be the iPhone Ultra and iPhone Ultra Flip (or perhaps a more clever name). Then the iPhone, which would look just like a modern iPhone. A fantastic phone, but more affordable without sacrificing too much. It would live somewhere between today’s iPhone and iPhone Pro when it comes to specs, and wouldn’t fold. Finally, the “mini” iPhone Neo, a phone with a screen size of the iPhone 13 mini or, preferably, smaller. This could come in fun colors, and would be the perfect phone for those looking to give up their scrolling addiction without giving up connection.
Four phones, three simple categories. Steve Jobs would be proud of a simplistic product lineup like that. Maybe Apple will take some risks again. Between the iPhone Air, the MacBook Neo, and the upcoming iPhone Ultra, maybe Apple’s ready to finally be known for innovation again.
If not, I’m eyeing up an e/OS or other “de-Googled” or open source Android phone. I’m tired of waiting for Apple to make something good again.