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

Abstract

Silicon-carbon tech permits extra space-efficient batteries, which may resolve the largest criticism about mini fashions.
A brand new mini would additionally profit from extra power-efficient chip designs and dynamic show know-how.
However, Apple may not be capable to discover room for a brand new mini in its lineup except it makes it a foldable.

One thing I discover fascinating — encouraging, even — is that whereas there have not been any new mini iPhones because the iPhone 13 mini, some persons are nonetheless clinging onto them for pricey life. These die-hards insist that life is healthier with a cellphone below six inches, since you’ll be able to really 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 well-liked type issue. It is a small act of rebel, actually.

There isn’t 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 an alternative of display screen dimension. With current traits and technological developments, nonetheless, the time may very well be ripe to rethink the thought, maybe in time for the iPhone 18 or 19.

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The important thing breakthrough

Kiss battery complaints goodbye

A person holding the OnePlus 13 over an ocean.

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 vital change — elevated power density. Which means it is doable to ship the identical quantity of power 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. One of the best-known instance might be the OnePlus 13, which has a 6,000mAh capability. Whereas it is nonetheless finest to cost it in a single day, the product can legitimately make it two days with mild 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

Si-C iPhones are solely a matter of time, and a brand new Mini can be the proper use case.

In reality, what’s unusual in the intervening time is that Apple and Samsung have not adopted go well with. Apple skipped the know-how for the iPhone 16 collection, 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 suppose that clients 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 can 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 might nonetheless be a really sensible gadget, capable of go from wake-up to bedtime while not having mid-day refueling. When you’re holding onto an iPhone 12 mini today, an early-afternoon charging session might be unavoidable.

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How else may a brand new iPhone mini enhance?

Miniaturization to the rescue

Person holding black iPhone 16e against a white background.

A brand new Mini may additionally make the most of progress in different areas too, similar to processor design. Apple’s primary chip producer, TSMC, is rolling out a 2nm course of this yr — when you think about that the A15 Bionic processor within the iPhone 13 mini was constructed utilizing 5nm know-how, there’s potential for severe enhancements in element dimension and/or energy effectivity.

Each little bit counts once you’re making an attempt to compress an even bigger cellphone design into the tiniest doable area.

One other factor you may rely on is Apple making an attempt to squeeze as a lot as doable into customized chips. Its first mobile modem, the C1, debuted on the iPhone 16e earlier this yr, 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 may bump effectivity up one other notch.

There’s potential for severe enhancements in element dimension and energy effectivity.

Apple may also be capable to shrink or utterly remove the digital camera notch, maximizing area on a small show (small by fashionable requirements, anyway). Eliminating it might require utilizing under-display know-how, which has proved slightly flaky on competing {hardware} — but when there’s any firm that might make it work properly, it is most likely Apple.

One other help to battery life can 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 based mostly on content material, saving energy in some circumstances whereas enabling always-on features (similar to StandBy) in others. Conceivably, an iPhone 18 mini with AOD tech disabled may final for a really very long time… sufficient to skip in a single day plug-ins at times, I will wager.

An iPhone 16 Pro with the flash going off.

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What are the probabilities of a brand new iPhone mini?

Closing ideas

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 partly folded.

Sadly, I am not relying on it. A brand new Mini may sit in an odd 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 thought of ultra-thin merchandise — simply have a look at the M4 iPad Pro, which was so skinny that it fueled worries a couple of second Bendgate (unfounded, fortunately). The corporate’s not going to shift focus away from the Air type issue except the iPhone 17 Air is an entire catastrophe.

Niches nonetheless demand to be served, nonetheless.

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

Niches nonetheless demand to be served, nonetheless. One strategy Apple may take is constructing a clamshell foldable, akin to Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 6 — this may allow one-handed texting from an exterior display screen, whereas preserving an even bigger main display screen obtainable for issues like YouTube and net looking. It is such an apparent concept, actually, that the true 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 most likely a few years out from a clamshell, at the least.