The End of Compact Phones: iPhone 13 Mini To be Discontinued
Apple officially announced the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Pro, Watch Series 9, and Watch Ultra 2 at its Wonderlust event. Apart from the usual new iPhone and Apple Watch debut, the Cupertino tech giant also confirmed that it will discontinue the iPhone 13 Mini, which means the end of production for the model.
The reason for Apple's move could be due to the unexpectedly low demand for the iPhone 13 Mini (review) and the previous iPhone 12 Mini when compared to the bigger iPhones. At the same time, this was already anticipated after the iPhone manufacturer re-introduced the Plus model via the iPhone 14 Plus (review) and dropped the Mini from the iPhone lineup last year.
While Apple won't officially offer the iPhone 13 Mini in their stores anymore, third-party retailers will still be able to sell the device. However, availability would likely depend on the remaining stock.
Apple iPhone SE 4 to feature a bigger form factor
With the scrapping of the iPhone Mini range, this leaves the Apple iPhone SE (2022) as the only compact offering from the company. However, the sub-6-inch category could eventually be phased out given the rumored iPhone SE 4 sporting a 6.1-inch display and a build that is carried over from the iPhone XR. The unannounced “Special Edition” and budget iPhone is tipped to arrive in 2024.
As for Android, there are not that many premium smartphones that measure smaller than 6-inches in size. The Asus Zenfone 10 (review) is the only high-end handset that has a comparable footprint to the iPhone 13 Mini while the others, like the Galaxy S23, average at 6-inches and are wider. Regardless, there could still be variants in dimensions and weight that actually make these devices more compact when held.
Do you think it is logical for Apple to end the iPhone Mini line and focus on the standard and Pro iPhone models? Which smartphone screen size do you prefer? We'd like to hear your opinion on this matter.
