When Apple rebooted the iPhone SE earlier this year, fans of small phones were disappointed. The original was a teensy phone, and the SE simply puts a small display in a larger body. Well, folks, your time has come: The iPhone 12 Mini is here, and it is actually, legitimately small.
The 5.4-inch iPhone is smaller than the both the iPhone SE with its 4.7-inch screen and the 5.8-inch iPhone 11 Pro. It looks like the rest of the iPhone 12 lineup, with a flattened design reminiscent of the iPhone 5 (and also the current iPads) and nearly edge-to-edge display — which means no fingerprint sensor for Touch ID.
And, like the other iPhone announced today, the 12 Mini includes a 5G modem and new antennas for high speeds (where you can catch a 5G signal) and lower latency when you stream videos, play games, and download apps and other content. Apple calls it the “smallest, thinnest, lightest 5G phone in the world.” The Mini also includes Apple’s A14 Bionic processor, built on 5nm, so you won’t sacrifice performance if you choose the Mini over a bigger iPhone 12, and an OLED display instead of an LCD screen.
But along with its smaller size, it’s also cheaper than the other iPhones 12. That’s because Apple made a few sacrifices: You won’t get a triple-lens camera system or stainless steel body; instead, the Mini sports a dual-lens shooter and aluminium case, which comes in black, blue, green, red, and white.
But you do get Night Mode on the iPhone 12 Mini, including on the front camera, so you don’t have to splurge on the 12 Pros just to get what is now a standard feature across smartphones.
I’m not sure I could ever go back to a smaller size iPhone after years of using a gigantic screen, but the thought of being able to slide an iPhone into my front pocket and having it fit comfortably is, frankly, delightful.
The iPhone 12 Mini starts at $1,199.