Apple's iPhone 12 mini is the smallest iPhone that's been made available since the original iPhone SE, with a 5.4-inch display and a body that's 5 inches high and 2.5 inches wide.
Since it's the smallest iPhone Apple sells, it's also the iPhone 12 model with the lowest battery life, coming in at 15 hours of video playback compared to the iPhone 12's 17 hours. For streaming video, the iPhone 12 mini offers 10 hours of playback, while the iPhone 12 offers 11 hours. The iPhone mini outperforms the iPhone SE, but doesn't measure up to any of the other larger iPhones.
The 6.7-inch iPhone 12 Pro Max features 20 hours of video playback, offering five hours longer battery life than the iPhone 12 mini.
Apple breaks battery life down in three categories: video playback, video playback when streaming video, and audio playback. Battery life info for all iPhones in the current iPhone lineup is listed below.
iPhone 12 Pro Max - Up to 20 hours video playback, 12 hours streamed, 80 hours audio
iPhone 12 Pro - Up to 17 hours video playback, 11 hours streamed, 65 hours audio
iPhone 12 - Up to 17 hours video playback, 11 hours streamed, 65 hours audio
iPhone 12 mini - Up to 15 hours video playback, 10 hours streamed, 50 hours audio playback
iPhone 11 - Up to 17 hours video playback, 10 hours streamed, 65 hours audio
iPhone XR - Up to 16 hours video playback, 65 hours audio
iPhone SE - Up to 13 hours video playback, 8 hours streamed, 40 hours audio
All of Apple's new iPhone 12 devices support fast charging and can be charged to 50 percent within 30 minutes using a 20W power adapter and the included USB-C to Lighting cable.
Friday December 5, 2025 9:40 am PST by Tim Hardwick
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Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.
Below, we've collated an updated set of key details that ...
Friday December 5, 2025 10:08 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Intel is expected to begin supplying some Mac and iPad chips in a few years, and the latest rumor claims the partnership might extend to the iPhone.
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Okay, sure, the 12 Mini doesn't match the much larger/newer iPhone battery stats, like duh, how could it? However, according to Apple's website it does match the XS Max, which was pretty well-regarded for its battery life back when it launched. What's my point bringing up that comparison? Well, it's that while battery life on the 12 Mini might not be as good as the latest/larger models, it's still shaping up to be pretty dang good all things considered. For anyone upgrading from an iPhone 7/8/SE or heck, even a X or XS, you're looking at improved battery life here despite several upgrades in a significantly smaller package. That's something to be excited about imo.
I don't get why Macrumors always disparages notion of a smaller and lighter iPhone?
For years and years the iPhone has become unnecessarily bigger and heavier. The Mini is a good thing. Moaning about battery life of a more pocketable phone is short sighted.
I'll never understand why Apple won't just add a few mm to the thickness for a significant increase in battery life. It's just like the MacBook Pro that got a miserable keyboard so it could be N mm thinner. Stupid. IMO.
