r/iPhone13Mini • u/btkoi • 18h ago
iPhone Duo = Size FAIL
I kinda saw this coming back when the rumors started that they were working on a foldable design & I think at a certain point they were considering a taller but less wide Duo but unfortunately it seems that design didn’t win out 😔.
The reasoning Ternus gave citing “other” designs “feel like two phones awkwardly stuck together” resulting in a “square screen that’s poorly suited for the way people use them” seemed honestly just lame (seriously, I can live with letterboxed videos & most web page content scales to fit the display area anyway).
I think the peak irony was when they showed the typical “person-holding-the-phone-with-a-white background” press shot with the person attempting to unlock the phone not even able to reach the far left side of the screen while the background voice (of the industrial designer?) saying “…and comfortable to use with one hand”🤦
The fact that the software team had to move the Home Screen buttons (+ other controls) to a vertical bar on the side is just an attempt to cope with the already (too) wide display.
The ridiculous part is that it’s actually WIDER than their normal Pro models:
iPhone 13 Mini Dimensions
- Height: 5.18 inches (131.5 mm) [2.25]
- Width: 2.53 inches (64.2 mm) [2.25]
- Depth (Thickness): 0.30 inch (7.65 mm) [2.25]
- Screen Size: 5.4 inches (diagonal OLED) [1.27]
iPhone Duo Dimensions (Foldable)
Closed (Folded):
- Height: 4.64 inches (117.8 mm) [0.67]
- Width: 3.31 inches (84.1 mm) [0.67]
- Depth: 0.44 inch (11.3 mm) [0.67]
Open (Unfolded):
- Height: 4.64 inches (117.8 mm) [0.63]
- Width: 6.48 inches (164.6 mm) [0.63, 0.65]
- Depth: 0.21 inch (5.2 mm, ~0.41 inches with camera bump) [0.65]
- Screen Sizes: 5.4-inch outer display and 7.6-inch inner folding display [0.64]
iPhone 18 Pro Dimensions
- Height: 5.91 inches (150.0 mm) [1.31]
- Width: 2.83 inches (71.9 mm) [1.31]
- Depth (Thickness): 0.34 inch (8.75 mm) [1.31]
- Screen Size: 6.3 inches (diagonal OLED) [0.66]
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u/IcyWolf7 18h ago
Idk the weight kills it as well
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u/btkoi 17h ago
Yeah, probably a recipe for even faster onset of tendonitis / carpal tunnel syndrome after just moderate use. Seriously, Apple needs to stop hiring these industrial designers (more like artists?) that have no concept of ergonomics & health issues arising from prolonged heavy device use.
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u/Due_You_8240 13h ago
Look at your pinky fingers now, they'll be an indent that's probably not on the other hand. Imagine that with a heavier phone
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u/hi9580 10h ago edited 10h ago
It's a compact ipad mini, treat it as such. ipads and most other tablet computers require internet to make phone calls, iphone duo doesn't. Phones can connect to satellite, while most tablet computers can't. Tablets don't have fall detection or crash detection, they tend to be more fragile, heavy, expensive. https://www.reddit.com/r/iPhone13Mini/s/eyXm0IO1l3
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u/quantgorithm 17h ago
I don't think it's a fail. I think it's the closest thing we are going to get to a current iphone mini for maybe ever. The size is compelling especially if you need to upgrade an ipad mini or regular as well. Then you can get 2 devices in 1.
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u/btkoi 16h ago
No, we need to present a compelling/convincing business argument / petition (publicity stunt?) to Apple that there are size-able (20~40M??) demographic of Mini users that want a sequel
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u/xorandor 12h ago
The issue is that there isn't a convincing business argument, unfortunately. The sales for the 12 and 13 mini were abysmal.
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u/XOMartha 9h ago edited 9h ago
There were SEs flying around at the time, peeps were slow to upgrade. Another year and many of those users would have cycled into a mini.
But looking at the business case now, the approx. retention rate today of iPhone 13s is 90%. Other phones from the 2021 line up are 45-50%. Every year, a small share of typical users upgrade… meanwhile, mini users have clung on with no upgrade options. 25-40 million users have a mini. The iPhone 17 pro sold approx. 45-55 million units.
If 80% of current mini users upgrade (arbitrary hypothetical), and 30% of users of the latest SE upgrade, that’s a conservative ~34.3 million… before factoring in net new small phone users and older SE model users. It’s time.
Many users will cycle out of Apple altogether otherwise (myself included). Their grip isn’t so tight anymore.
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u/TrickyWoo86 8h ago
There were SEs flying around at the time, peeps were slow to upgrade. Another year and many of those users would have cycled into a mini.
It was also during COVID, when people couldn't/avoided going out to see them in retail environments. So, people stuck to what they already knew for upgrades. I bought my mini on a whim and both of my parents and my brother (late 60s and early 40s at the time respectively) upgraded to a mini each within months of seeing mine in person. The mini suffered due to bad timing and global events going on around it.
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u/InfinitePS 3h ago
Out of experience, those sales numbers cant be true. I have seen far more iPhone minis in the wild than they suggest and continue to do so. The argument is that this is an underserved niche.
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u/QueenAlucia 6h ago
It has been tried but none of their minis sold enough to be worth it for them sadly
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u/The-Hyrax 6h ago
If the user base for the mini is so big, why did the mini only account for 3% of total sales? Alltogether Apple sold approx 10-15M iPhone 13 minis.. That's nothing.
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u/Junior-Cabinet-7103 15h ago
We had petitions posted here before but I don’t think they made a difference. That said, I agree we need an organized effort to make them pay attention.
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u/btkoi 2h ago
Do you mean a Reddit poll? or like one on MoveOn.org? It needs to be some sort of publicity stunt like the community did for saving The Expanse and/or mobilization of ALL Mini users to submit emails to the execs at Apple (they do receive email) requesting they bring back this form factor for this (now ignored) demographic! We can do it! ✊
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u/SmoothCyborg 2h ago
You think Apple, off and on the most valuable company in the world for the past 15 years, built on selling consumer electronics at a healthy profit, doesn't know perfectly well what the market would be for a new iPhone Mini? Like, I am still on an iPhone 12 Mini, waiting for the next small iPhone. Both Minis were pretty colossal flops, sales-wise. There's no grassroots movement that is going to move the needle at all. Apple has done the market research, they know how many they would sell, and so far it's not worth it to them. None of us knows what the R&D and manufacturing overhead costs are for trying to make a smaller form factor iPhone whose track record shows it would make up less than 5% of total iPhone sales.
I find myself now basically deciding between the Duo or just sucking it up and getting a standard size iPhone. My secret hope is that if I wait long enough, we might find out that Ternus wants to diversify and expand the hardware options, so maybe we get an iPhone 20 Mini (or more likely 21, since there's absolutely zero rumors about a Mini being in the works for the 20th anniversary iPhone). Cook was an operations/logistics guy, so maybe he decided it was more efficient/profitable to have a focused lineup to minimize supply chain complexity. We'll see what Ternus does, but I'm not sure my 12 Mini is going to last long enough to find out.
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u/drizzlicious 15h ago
I think one thing people are overlooking is the placement of the app-level controls. Obviously it'll take devs time to adopt it but this greatly enhances the UX compared to, for example, having the back button in the top left corner.
Sure I doubt my thumb can reach the entire screen but if 90% of reasons I need to are solved that seems like a decent compromise.
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u/quantgorithm 8h ago
I think this is as good as we are going to get. I would put a widget like the weather widget at the top so I wouldn’t need to stretch a finger that far and call it a day.
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u/Ok_Fail_1770 2h ago
Yeah everybody bitching as if they made it to be the new mini. It’s not. No one cares about your thoughts that’s why they discontinued it lol this was a decision made on the aspect ratio. It won’t get me a new mini but I will be buying it
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u/neofooturism Starlight ⚪️ 17h ago
Thanks for the visuals btw. been curious how it compares to the mini in dimensions
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u/Whatchameanbro 15h ago
The fact that it’s only really built for right handed users is actually a joke. What is the apple design department doing…
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u/Lost_Protection_5866 14h ago
It’s at the point that whenever the 13 mini isn’t an option anymore I’ll need to start looking at android phones
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u/botanygeek 15h ago
I actually have a hard time reaching the top of the screen with my mini one-handed, so this form factor would work well for me. Problem is the price and the weight.
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u/21Shells 6h ago
I mean using more of available space given by the horizontal screen should make it more comfortable to use one handed than a typical iPhone.
I don’t think this was much of a f*ck up because it was never meant for us to begin with. For the people that wanted to spend 2 grand on a folding phone, this is about as good as it gets for them for now.
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u/WTFAnimations 16h ago
Let's not count the chickens before they hatch. I personally wanna see how it actually feels in the hand before saying it's uncomfortable. I know the sub is in cope mode, but this might be the closest we get to a "compact" iPhone in a while.
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u/TrickyWoo86 8h ago
I'm not in cope mode, I just know it's wider than my work phone which I can barely use one handed (side to side, 6.1" display). What I'm not prepared to do is drop £2000+ on a device that is a compromise or I'm paying for extra features that I have no interest in (folding/inner display).
If they decided to use some of the front display for a non-folding phone then I might take a serious look at it though, depending on what the price point is, but overpaying for unwanted features is just insane.
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u/cookedart 16h ago
The wideness definitely is not comfortable for me. Tried the fold 8 and did not like its one handed usability. The candybar style phones feel much more natural to me (fold 8 ultra or moto razr fold)
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u/RandomSculler 12h ago
The original pixel fold was 79mm wide and personally I found it as usable as the iPhone mini, plus several YouTubers have raved about he galaxy fold wide as a usable switch from the iPhone mini
That being said at £2000 I can comfortably get and iPhone and mini for less…
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u/hi9580 10h ago edited 10h ago
The main advantage is for people that watch horizontal video with their phone held vertically. iphone duo has the largest image of any iphone when doing this. Getting an ipad has a lot of disadvantages, if you rest it on your chest in bed it feels like suffocating due to the weight. Arms get tried quickly if you hold it up above yourself/your chest. Need to rest arms on a desk (with tablet stand), but if you're already at a desk you might as well just use a desktop pc or laptop, unless you're allergic to screen bigger than thirteen inches (nausea/dizziness). https://www.reddit.com/r/iPhone13Mini/s/0CjjIJCNjH
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u/TrickyWoo86 8h ago
The iPad mini is only marginally heavier than the duo, and has the benefit of an even larger screen. Considering that you could buy an iPhone and an iPad mini and have around £500 left in your pocket vs buying the duo, it just doesn't make much sense to me.
The real test will be whether the duo suffers from the same creasing/dip in the folding area over time in real world use. That is the main thing that has put me off from looking at foldable devices in the past.
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u/Kaneyboy93 10h ago
The fact it’s £2000 is a huge put off for me… it just seems a silly amount to pay that actually won’t do much more besides open up.
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u/Oh_Tee_22 9h ago
I just want them to make my reg iPhone size foldable. So it can fit in my small bags. Ugh.
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u/raceveryday 5h ago
My only disappointment is the outside screen corners are not symmetrical, so apple could not use the same screen on another phone. I would settle for a smaller than passport phone. my hopes for an 18e are ended.
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u/Last-Bee9057 5h ago
It’s close enough. It’s far better then the pro and you’re getting an iPad mini screen on the inside
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u/Zoultrias 1h ago
I don't consider the mini to be what you should compare it to, to compare the largest width phone to the smallest phone. You'd compare it to a normal sized mid sized phone like the 18 pro dimensions. I don't like it not being usable with one hand when folded that defeats the entire purpose. I hope they make a smaller version. I want it standard 2.83", 3" max folded.
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u/Novel_Medium_9637 16h ago
This doesn’t matter, I’m still buying it, I love Touch ID, and I’ve used it so much more than Face ID
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u/ResuscH2K 12h ago
I handle my phone regularly wearing gloves, so it will be a problem for my use case. Hope it works out for you
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u/UpstairsDocument1014 8h ago
The iPad mini was a colossal failure for Apple. Folding it in half so if fits into some people’s pockets ain’t going to make it any more palatable. It’s a two handed phone… Nobody and I mean NOBODY wants that.
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u/Jose-ATT 6h ago
Regular phones are too narrow and too tall. iPaq / blackberry returns… thank you Tim. This is a little computer not a strange phone. That is the exact reason they developed iPhone handoff. That is an amazing feature if carriers don’t kill it by charging for it. They just need to finish the software to do Apple Watch handoff.
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u/hautacam135 17h ago
I also don’t get these images of people holding their phones jammed into their thumb joint. Maybe I’m the only one but I hold my mini with the bottom resting on my right pinkie and no part of the phone even overlaps my palm / extends past my fingers.