The iPhone 14 is coming in less than two months, but there's bad news for
fans of Apple's smallest iPhone 13 form factor. If you were hoping to
upgrade to the iPhone 14 mini this year, that unfortunately won't be an
option. Here's why.
Why won't there be an iPhone 14 mini?
Apple introduced the 5.4-inch iPhone 'mini' form factor with the iPhone 12
lineup in 2020. Despite a vocal group of supporters, however, it quickly
became clear that the iPhone 12 mini was not selling as well as the rest of
the iPhone 12 lineup.
Just two months after the iPhone 12 lineup was released, a report from
analysts at CIRP indicated that the iPhone 12 mini had accounted for only 6%
of iPhone sales in those first two months. For comparison's sake, the iPhone
12 accounted for 27% of sales, followed by the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12
Pro Max at 20% each.
In fact, the iPhone 12 mini, despite being one of the new "flagship"
iPhones, was often outsold by older models, including the iPhone SE, iPhone
11, and iPhone XR.
The iPhone 13 mini was released in September of 2021, and despite
improvements to battery life and display brightness, sales were still
sluggish. Recent data from CIRP suggested that the iPhone 13 mini only
accounted for 3% of all iPhone sales in Q2.
The iPhone lineup
The iPhone 13 mini (and the iPhone 12 mini before it) sit in a weird spot in
Apple's lineup. Currently, Apple sells the following iPhone models:
. iPhone SE : Starting at $429 for 64GB of storage
. iPhone 11 : Starting at $499 for 64GB of storage
. iPhone 12 mini : Starting at $599 for 64GB of storage
. iPhone 12 : Starting at $699 for 64GB of storage
. iPhone 13 mini : Starting at $699 for 128GB of storage
. iPhone 13 : Starting at $799 for 128GB of storage
. iPhone 13 Pro : Starting at $999 for 128GB of storage
. iPhone 13 Pro Max : Starting at $1,099 for 128GM of storage
The iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 13 mini are likely hard for many iPhone buyers
to justify given the smaller screen in comparison to the iPhone 11 and
iPhone 12. The iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 13 mini both offer benefits over
the iPhone 11 and iPhone 12, but many consumers associate larger screens
with a device being "more premium."
The future
A number of reports have indicated that we won't see an iPhone 14 mini this
year. 9to5Mac has also exclusively reported that Apple is not testing an
iPhone 14 mini.
The iPhone 14 (code-named D27 and D28) will be available in 6.1-inch and
6.7-inch form factors. The iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max (code-named
D73 and D74) will also be available in 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch form factors.
This means that the smallest iPhone 14 will feature a 6.1-inch display and
that Apple is dropping the number of screen size options from three to two.
The iPhone 13 mini will likely stick around in Apple's lineup at a lower
price, perhaps around $599.
The iPhone 'mini' form factor could make a comeback as a future iPhone SE,
but for now, the iPhone 14 lineup will mark the end of the era.
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