The Apple event yesterday was packed with a ton of brand-new announcements. For those who missed it, the event brought out the iPhone 15 series, the Series 9 Watch, and some updates to the existing services offered by Apple. But, alongside these new product announcements, the Cupertino giant has quietly killed the Apple iPhone Mini.
As a matter of fact, if you visit the official Apple online store, thereās no trace of the Apple iPhone 13 Mini. The current lineup at the store consists of the new iPhone 15 series phones, iPhone 14, iPhone 13, and the iPhone SE 3rd Gen. And with the discontinuation of the iPhone 13 Mini, Apple marks the end of the line for arguably the best premium small phone designed for single-handed use.
Why Did Apple Discontinue the iPhone Mini Lineup?
If you recall, the first iPhone with the āMiniā label was the iPhone 12 Mini. But shortly after the launch, Apple discovered that āMiniā phones donāt sell well. After all, most consumers want a bigger screen, allowing them to get an immersive viewing experience.
In addition to that, due to size constraints, the iPhone Mini devices couldnāt pack large-sized batteries. And considering how entertainment-focused smartphones need to be these days, small batteries mean a no-go for many smartphone buyers. But small display and average battery life arenāt the only contributing factors.
The iPhone Mini was competing in the small-phone market against the iPhone SE. Although the Mini model has drastically better features, such as better screens and improved cameras, the iPhone SE models are cheaper. This made the Mini iPhones fail to offer better sales performance.
On the note of sales performance, Apple had to cut down the production of the iPhone 12 Mini by 70 percent in less than a year after launch. Itās all due to the fact that the existing stock was not selling well. The story is pretty much the same for the iPhone 13 Mini. And you already know, Apple didnāt release a Mini model in the iPhone 14 lineup.
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Moreover, the iPhone Mini phones were mostly niche products. It targeted a very small number of users in the market. So, axing these compact phones wonāt really hurt Appleās earnings. However, it does leave a minority of the consumers without an important option, which is definitely bad news.
Thereās Still Some Hope Left for Small Screen Fans
Even though Apple has officially discontinued the iPhone 13 Mini, you can still get it from third-party retailers and carriers. That includes retailers such as Amazon. And if youāre not fully into the Apple ecosystem, thereās a good number of options in the Android space. Take the recently launched Zenfone 10, for example. Also, there are flip phones.
Additionally, Apple still carries the iPhone SE 3rd Gen in its official store. While its features are not that far from the iPhone 8, itās still a decent compact phone. But it does lack some of the important iPhone perks, such as MagSafe, Face ID, ultra-wideband 5G, and better cameras.
That said, according to different supply chain analysts, the iPhone could be launching a new iPhone SE as soon as next year. However, the new iPhone SE might not stick with the notion of the iPhone Mini anymore. Instead, itāll likely have a similar screen size as the regular models of the lineup.
Still, none of these pieces of information about the next-gen iPhone SE is confirmed by Apple. So, at the current state, getting an iPhone 13 Mini from third-party stores or a compact Android smartphone is the only option for mini-sized phone lovers.
