iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 12 Pro Max
And that smaller size is really nice to hold. iOS scales well to the 5.4-inch display, and the iPhone 12 design looks and feels just as nice on the slightly more compact version as it does on the full-sized model. If you liked the size of the the old 5 / 5S / SE, though, the 12 mini feels like the closest Apple has come to that style of device in a long time.
It’s honestly a bit weird to hold at first, especially if you’re coming from a big phone. Some things do take a bit of an adjustment, like typing — but other parts of using an iPhone, like swiping down from the top of the display for notifications or the control center, are easier than they’ve been in years. But for the first time since arguably the iPhone 8, Apple has made a flagship phone that nearly anyone should be able to comfortably use and hold in one hand.
I ordered the mini in blue, which I hope I don’t regret. In some photos the color looks great, in others not so much.
It is still bigger than the 5-series hardware, but appears to be noticeably smaller than the 4.7-inch form factor that was introduced with the iPhone 6. That seems to be pretty close to a sweet spot.
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On paper, if you just want an iPhone, you should just buy the Mini and get a little more storage. If you really care about camera features, you should probably buy the Pro Max, even though it is the size of an aircraft carrier. The 6.1-inch models seem to only be for people who wanted to get an iPhone 12 earlier, want a little more battery life than the Mini, or really care about the telephoto lens.
Previously:
- iPhone 12 Reviews
- How iOS Apps Adapt to the Various iPhone 12 Screen Sizes
- iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro
Update (2020-11-27): See also:
- John Gruber
- iPhone 12 mini: Dieter Bohn
- iPhone 12 Pro Max: Nilay Patel, Matthew Panzarino, Austin Mann
- Review roundups: John Voorhees, Nick Heer, Hartley Charlton, Joe Rossignol, Josh Centers
Update (2021-01-05): Jason Snell:
It finally happened. I picked up a regular iPhone 12 the other day and recoiled at how large it was. My month-long inculcation into the cult of the iPhone 12 mini had done its job. I had learned to love little brother.
Apple’s 5.4-inch iPhone 12 mini, which is the smallest iPhone that has been released since the 2016 iPhone SE, may not be selling as well as Apple hoped. According to new sales numbers from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, the iPhone 12 mini accounted for a lower number of sales than other iPhone 12 models that Apple offers.
I hope they keep making the smaller size.
Update (2021-01-12): Simone Manganelli:
Back in early November, a few days before the iPhone 12 mini (here-to-fore referred to as simply the “iPhone mini”) was available to order, Apple updated a support document, indicating that when charging via MagSafe (an annoying re-use of a previous term for a completely unrelated feature), the iPhone mini only charges at 12 W, despite the ability of other iPhone 12 models to charge at up to 15 W using the same MagSafe charger.
Well it got me wondering… maybe the limitation is not with wireless charging, but with charging the iPhone mini in general. Can you ever charge the iPhone mini with more than 12 W? The answer appears to be no, even with wired charging.
Previously:
6 Comments RSS · Twitter
I'd really like to get an iPhone 12 of any variety, but the OLED screen PWM is unworkable for me, the eyestrain is just severe to look at. LCD has no such problem.
Hugely disappointing that Apple seems to ignore the PWM issue.
I ordered the mini too. Blue would have been my choice except this year I decided my eyes need something easier to spot when I don't remember where in the room I put it down, so I'm getting red. If a few bucks go to a good cause, that's good too.
Glad to see these reviews support my choice, especially as someone with small hands.
Writing in my new iPhone mini. Had an iPhone SE 1st gen before. The mini feels bit too big really. Takes longer to finish a solitaire game because it is harder to reach fast across the screen. The mini is faster for sure and the interface is smooth, but will take time to live without the home button. I helped a disabled man do the same switch and it is hard for him to make the gesture to open the phone, but think he might learn it too. Still hard to understand how to get highest quality out of the photos – one has to use jpeg and turn off hdr etc.
Bought a 12 mini and will likely return it, the PWM flicker is embarrassing and cannot be worked around using the "Reduce White Point" setting as in earlier models.
It's also still pretty big. Doesn't really feel much smaller in my hand than the iPhone 8 form factor.
I love the iPhone 12 Mini, I went from an iPhone 11 Pro, which I really liked, but it was a bit heavy, this is night and day.
The only thing that is not so great about the iPhone 12 Mini is the battery life, which I guess comes with getting a smaller phone, the 11 Pro battery life was pretty good. I guess it could also be an iOS issue, or the fact I did an iCloud restore.
In any case, really loving the iPhone 12 Mini.
I don’t think you’ll regret the blue mini at all, and if the color’s not great then the covers look nice in the photos.
The mini is the phone I’ve been waiting for, I’m still on the original SE. Now it’s here though, I just can’t bring myself to upgrade. I mean, my SE still works pretty well, it’s still a solid phone... and £750 is a huge chunk of change for me. That’s half a MBP, and I don’t use my phone in the same way some people do - I probably need to replace my 2014 MBP first. I am suffering by only having the SE to debug my apps on, but then developers with bigger phones probably suffer more as they try to squeeze their giant UI down to SE size before they can ship...
I don’t know. If my SE dies, maybe I’ll get a mini...