The iPhone 13 mini is dead, leaving small phone lovers in a lurch

fne8w2ah@lemmy.world to Technology@lemmy.world – 196 points –
The iPhone 13 mini is dead, leaving small phone lovers in a lurch
arstechnica.com
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Perhaps the perfect opportunity to stop buying Apple products?

The options on Android aren’t much better, unless you go for some obscure manufacturer who won’t support the phone with updates 1 year after its life cycle.

Apple was for a while the only remaining flagship manufacturer who actually provided mini models. Ironic, because Android is supposed to be the alternative providing more options.

Moto is still kicking, Samsung has small models too, Asus is going alright, Sony at least the are skinny.

I haven’t seen any phone offered by these manufacturers that is as small as iPhone 13 mini. At best they’re just marginally smaller than iPhone 15.

There is no good alternative anymore if you’re looking for a truly small phone.

The options on Android aren’t much better

Literally every one of them is better, because none of them are running iOS. That's my subjective opinion.

unless you go for some obscure manufacturer who won’t support the phone with updates 1 year after its life cycle.

Samsung and Google both support devices for 5 years now. Doesn't matter how long Apple "supports" the software because they don't support the hardware.

I’m talking about small phones. iPhone 13 mini was the last decent option when it came to small phones. Neither Google or Samsung make phones that small. The smallest phones they make are same size as a regular iPhone 13.

Now there’s only a few “obscure” manufacturers left who make small phones. “Obscure” manufacturers usually lack long term support on both the software and the hardware side to be a decent option.

As if there are equivalent and small phones with Android.

Depends on their needs. If they purely want a phone that fits nice in a pocket, a Z Flip will do. But if they really want the small screen, there are niche brands like Unihertz, which recently released the Jelly Star, a 3" phone with pretty decent specs.

Isn’t the Z flip the one with the screen that has the consistency and hardness of jelly beans?

Yes if you open it. You could also only use the outside screen which would give you a phone with a small screen.

That’s a bit of a painful workaround considering paying for and not using the main selling point and then having to use a phone that’s twice as thick as it should be.

My pixel 5 was awesome but then they started making their phones big again

Pixel 5 was the sweet spot. Then Google decided to only cater for people with enormous hands..

I find that to be a good option. Unfortunately, given my current needs, the Apple Watch is the best device to meet them, so I'm stuck with the iPhone. And yes, I've researched the Galaxy Watch, too, but app integration and health measurements are considered lackluster compared to the AW.

that's always the problem with android based stuff. good software is the one thing they can't do.

I am not sure what you mean by they can't do good software.

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