Did the iPhone 13 Mini's death signal the end of practical phone design? | Hacker News Reader

Did the iPhone 13 Mini's death signal the end of practical phone design?

20 pointssergormo31 comments

Apple dropping the iPhone 13 Mini feels like a signal for where the whole smartphone market is heading. Here was a compact, powerful, actually pocketable device that met a real need—and now it’s gone. Apple, as usual, leads trends, and if even they’re scrapping practical-sized phones, it’s a clear sign: the industry is now chasing bigger screens, “better” cameras, and more features that are easier to market as upgrades over the old, even if they barely improve the day-to-day experience.

Are we disconnected from reality here? Phones have hit a physical innovation plateau; there’s only so much screen and camera improvement you can pack in. And yet, I find myself scrambling to buy another iPhone 13 Mini simply because there’s no longer a real market for compact, user-friendly phones.

Is this really about demand, or are companies just steering us toward a profitable cycle of “bigger is better”? Is anyone else frustrated by this push to lock us into constant, unnecessary upgrades?

In the end, the mini was killed because it didn’t sell well. As much as I personally liked the size, if no one else is buying them I can’t exactly fault Apple too much for the decision they made.

The problem with the mini wasn’t the size of the phone I suspect, but the size of the battery. Even if a customer liked the size, they may not have been willing to take a significant battery life tradeoff for it.

I upgraded my iPhone 12 mini to a 13 mini the day the 13 mini was discontinued. My plan was to use it for as long as humanly possible. However, since it was already a couple years old when I got it, the battery and hardware limitations (most ram) started to become a problem within the first year. I ended up getting a 16 Pro a few weeks ago.

I’d love a phone the size of the mini, but a Pro model with triple cameras. I would be perfectly fine with them making it thicker to accommodate the extra hardware and a comparable battery. I think I’d actually prefer this, as a thicker phone would mean they could eliminate the camera bump, or at least shrink it.

I don’t think my wishes will ever come true. Personally, I’d even go smaller than the mini. I think they got the size right the first time. I would be happy keeping it the same size and moving to an all-screen design. But I’m an oddity these days, as I still think the computer should be the center hub, and the phone a utility device for on the go. The overall market has moved to mobile-first, where the phone isn’t just the center hub, its many people’s only device.

I feel you, but the bigger sizes for me generate so much friction that I end up writing this post. :)

The original iPhone design was even smaller than today’s iPhone Mini, built for a similar use case—compact functionality. Isn’t it a bit ironic that the market has now shifted towards feature-heavy, oversized phones?

While I understand that larger phones do offer certain advantages, one could argue that the push towards “bigger is better” is just a marketing-driven trend, rather than a necessity. This focus on size and feature count could apply to any brand, not just Apple.

Regarding the battery size. Never felt it as well. Usage completely natural and never experience an issue with it. No need more.

> The original iPhone design was even smaller than today’s iPhone Mini, built for a similar use case—compact functionality. Isn’t it a bit ironic that the market has now shifted towards feature-heavy, oversized phones?

Not necessarily too ironic, since the market shift was part of a larger trend that has occurred since that time: phones-as-primary-computing-device.

While you, me, and probably most of the typical HN audience uses a laptop/desktop as their primary computing device, "normal" people today generally use their phones. It's not unreasonable to think that someone using their phone for managing their entire life (instead of just making phone calls and messaging) would want something with a bigger screen for reasons beyond just marketing.

Fair enough, thanks, agree. Good point.

Only at Apple.

Huawei Mate XT tri-fold phone https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yv_S7KrOlfk

I wouldn't call this practical or compact

> Are we disconnected from reality here?

Yes, Apple has been blind to the actual humans using their products for some time now. Apple's fandom would probably quote statistics about demand while failing to realise that normal people don't want to buy a new phone unless they have to.

Riding the hype and focus groups can only do so much. So everyone is getting suboptimal AI now, instead of say longer battery life.

> Yes, Apple has been blind to the actual humans using their products for some time now.

This is a ridiculous take. There is literally no evidence of this. There are over 2 BILLION iOS devices in the wild and I doubt it's because "Apple has been blind to actual humans using their products for some time now".

The purest test of whether you understand people's needs is if people buy your products with their hard earned cash. And then they do it again and again and again over a long period of time.

I like the mini size but usability on mobile sites is often broken. I eventually switched to a full size phone because many sites completely break on a smaller than standard screen.

Could you name one of those sites? I have a 13 mini and have never had usability “broken” on it.

A lot of the crappy food sites at restaurants cut off the buttons such that they disappear below the keyboard and can’t click the button. I haven’t used my iPhone mini in a year or 2 so I can’t relive the names of the sites

Wow, compelling evidence!

I had the same experience using the original SE for several years. Apps and sites would lay out funny because they just weren't ever tested with that screen size anymore.

That was the only thing that prevented me from getting a mini. But truth be told, I still think it was too big.

I miss the size, weight, and shape of the iPhone 4S.

Can you name a single one that “laid out funny”?

I have an Xperia Ace 2 which is ~the same size as the mini. I have not personally noticed any sites rendering incorrectly due to the size that I can recall.

I think it’s an Apple specific problem with the submit button sliding under the keyboard

Like I said, I have an iPhone 13 Mini and have never had the problems being described and thus far nobody can point me to a site that would allow me to replicate it.

I don't recall websites off the top of my head, but the build of the Ombi iOS app at the time had some buttons at the bottom that were not the correct size/shape on smaller screens.

From the standpoint of apps and websites in general, they'd often lay out okay, but information density or arrangement of page elements was often sub-par. Wasted horizontal space was common, with things being squeezed and taller than they ought to be.

The problem isn't that stuff is outright _broken_, but more that even with a responsive layout, the experience isn't good because it's just not designed for that small of a screen.

I’m not sure why everyone’s replying to just tell me they can’t name a single site of the allegedly many that have these issues lol.

Never happened to me, for years with the mini already, first 12 and then the 13.

I have two iPhone 13 Minis and I'm just going to keep buying them on Facebook Marketplace as needed. Hopefully Apple has usage retention data :)

The 13 Mini wasn’t as practical as the 13 Pro to me. I thought it was, but after using both, I thought the Pro had a better form factor and much better battery life.

Perhaps the Mini design wasn’t practical enough to enough people?

I just traded my 13 mini for 16 Pro Max. The reason is simple: I want a bigger screen because I read a lot on my phone.

Is this really about demand

Probably not. My guess is it is about money and that the Mini was in part a result of fabrication yields for screens and PCB's and how many widgets fit in a standard shipping crate. Manufacturing and logistics...that's why Cooke is in charge.

Apple also has metrics on how Mini users participate in the rest of its ecosystem. Where do they sit in the space of app store revenue? Other device sales? The upgrade pipeline?

Finally, how likely are they to leave the Apple ecosystem over phone size? I mean anyone can buy a small Android phone if size is a priority. Apple makes excellent products but it is not an actual person. It is incapable of loving. Good luck.

Interesting, would love to know some details here. How much differ and how much the ROI of having to manufacture, bigger more featured vs continuing a mini version.

I always questioned that the mini did not sell because of this effect that was worse than their other options. Consumer mind is easy in those fields. If I offer you 3 versions and the other two had "more" but in reality are the same.

Why would I choose over the small one, the big one has more, I'm buying less.

I think this strategy killed the mini sales, not the value of the format.

Apple did not start making Mini's because of pent up demand. It started because of a specific opportunity to realize high profits in the context of Apple's other manufacturing and logistic operations. The manufacturing line for the Mini made Mini's until the supply of its widgets was exhausted.

For example if a screen wafer has 1000mm diameter (I am just making this up). If the yield is 100 large iPad Pro screens and Apple can make 15 Mini screens from the left over area, the Mini screens have a very low cost basis. There is also a low output, so consumer demand doesn't need to be high for the Mini to be very profitable.

Apple's product line is the result of an optimization problem that is solved across its entire product line not product by product. It doesn't matter that a product sells well. It matters that it sells right. Too much demand for the Mini means Apple stores don't have them in stock and that will make shoppers unhappy.

I doubt Apple has been sending Mini's to the landfill.

Thanks, really nice point

What current android phones are comparable in size to the iPhone mini? The only option I can think of is unihertz.

Bigger just means they can charge more for it.

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