Apple ought to make a brand new iPhone mini, and here is how I need it to look

One thing I discover attention-grabbing — encouraging, even — is that whereas there have not been any new mini iPhones because the iPhone 13 mini, some individuals are nonetheless clinging onto them for expensive life. These die-hards insist that life is best with a cellphone below six inches, since you possibly can truly use it with one hand. By no means thoughts that Minis are now not state-of-the-art, and launched with weak battery life that is solely degraded over time — the followers are making it work within the title of their most popular kind issue. It is a small act of insurrection, actually.

There is not any signal that Apple’s going to launch a brand new mini anytime quickly, because the one addition to the iPhone 17 lineup is rumored to be the iPhone 17 Air, emphasizing thinness as a substitute of display measurement. With latest developments and technological developments, nonetheless, the time might be ripe to rethink the concept, maybe in time for the iPhone 18 or 19.

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The important thing breakthrough

Kiss battery complaints goodbye

Essentially the most vital improvement is the arrival of silicon-carbon (Si-C) batteries. These are an evolution of the lithium-ion batteries we’re used to, however with an essential change — elevated vitality density. Meaning it is attainable to ship the identical quantity of vitality in a smaller battery pack, and even higher longevity from a standard-sized one.

We’re already seeing the fruits of this in some gadgets. The most effective-known instance might be the OnePlus 13, which has a 6,000mAh capability. Whereas it is nonetheless greatest to cost it in a single day, the product can legitimately make it two days with gentle use. The identical is true of another Si-C telephones, that are being churned out by manufacturers like Oppo, Vivo, and Realme.

Model

OnePlus

SoC

Snapdragon 8 Elite

Show

6.82-inch, 3168 × 1440 pixel decision (510ppi) 120Hz adaptive refresh

RAM

12GB, 16GB

In reality, what’s unusual in the intervening time is that Apple and Samsung have not adopted swimsuit. Apple skipped the expertise for the iPhone 16 sequence, and appears poised to do the identical with the iPhone 17 lineup, given rumors about how weak the iPhone 17 Air’s battery life has been in testing. Samsung, in the meantime, was anticipated to make use of Si-C within the Galaxy S25 Edge, however selected to not, regardless of charging a premium over the S25+. In the mean time, each corporations appear to assume that prospects care extra about thinness and weight than how lengthy their gadgets run.

Si-C iPhones are solely a matter of time, fortunately, and a brand new mini could be the proper use case. A hypothetical iPhone 18 mini would nonetheless lag behind the common iPhone 18 in runtime — assuming each improve to Si-C — however it could nonetheless be a really sensible system, in a position to go from wake-up to bedtime with no need mid-day refueling. If you happen to’re holding onto an iPhone 12 mini lately, an early-afternoon charging session might be unavoidable.

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How else might a brand new iPhone mini enhance?

Miniaturization to the rescue

A brand new Mini might additionally benefit from progress in different areas too, reminiscent of processor design. Apple’s important chip producer, TSMC, is rolling out a 2nm course of this 12 months — when you think about that the A15 Bionic processor within the iPhone 13 mini was constructed utilizing 5nm expertise, there’s potential for critical enhancements in part measurement and/or energy effectivity.

One other factor you could possibly depend on is Apple making an attempt to squeeze as a lot as attainable into customized chips. Its first mobile modem, the C1, debuted on the iPhone 16e earlier this 12 months, and the corporate is allegedly engaged on an all-in-one wi-fi chip supporting Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and different protocols. If that occurs, it might bump effectivity up one other notch.

Apple may also be capable to shrink or fully remove the digital camera notch, maximizing area on a small show (small by fashionable requirements, anyway). Eliminating it could require utilizing under-display expertise, which has proved a bit flaky on competing {hardware} — but when there’s any firm that might make it work effectively, it is in all probability Apple.

One other support to battery life could be the adoption of a 120Hz ProMotion show. That is mentioned to be coming to non-Professional iPhones for the primary time with the iPhone 17, and it issues past simply easy scrolling — the tech permits screens to drop to as little as 1Hz primarily based on content material, saving energy in some circumstances whereas enabling always-on features (reminiscent of StandBy) in others. Conceivably, an iPhone 18 mini with AOD tech disabled might final for a really very long time… sufficient to skip in a single day plug-ins at times, I will guess.

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What are the possibilities of a brand new iPhone mini?

Ultimate ideas

Sadly, I am not relying on it. A brand new Mini might sit in a wierd middleground in Apple’s future lineups, being costlier than an iPhone 18e, however with out the thinness benefit of an iPhone 18 Air. Alongside these traces, Apple appears newly re-committed to the concept of ultra-thin merchandise — simply take a look at the M4 iPad Professional, which was so skinny that it fueled worries a few second Bendgate (unfounded, fortunately). The corporate’s not going to shift focus away from the Air kind issue except the iPhone 17 Air is an entire catastrophe.

Extra importantly, maybe, the smartphone trade usually has drifted away from screens below six inches. For no matter purpose, mini iPhones by no means offered effectively, and the final flagship cellphone of any form with sub-6 dimensions was the ASUS Zenfone 10. Compact telephones have develop into a distinct segment, with most customers selecting bigger screens even when it means two-handed texting, or often struggling to suit their telephones of their pockets.

Niches nonetheless demand to be served, nonetheless. One method Apple might take is constructing a clamshell foldable, akin to Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 6 — this would possibly allow one-handed texting from an exterior display, whereas conserving a much bigger major display accessible for issues like YouTube and internet shopping. It is such an apparent concept, actually, that the actual query could also be when it is coming, not if. The primary folding iPhone is anticipated to be a book-style mannequin due in 2026, so we’re in all probability a few years out from a clamshell, at the very least.

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