According to market data compiled by Counterpoint Research, Apple's smallest iPhone since the 2016 iPhone SE, the iPhone 12 mini, struggled to obtain a spot in the top five list of best-selling smartphones in January of this year.
According to the market data, the iPhone 12 mini came in eighth place for the best-selling smartphone worldwide in the first month of the year. However, the iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro Max, iPhone 12 Pro, and last year’s iPhone 11 enjoyed dominance at the top of the list.
The 5.4-inch iPhone has widely been reported to to have suffered from disappointing sales, with Apple even reportedly cutting production due to "far lower" than expected demand. The smaller handset includes the same features as the larger 6.1-inch iPhone 12, including the same camera system, chip, and overall design. The mini, however, includes a significantly smaller battery, and obviously, a less immersive display.
Despite its struggles, Apple is still reportedly planning to keep the 5.4-inch form factor alive in the 2021 iPhone 13 lineup. The newer handset, alongside the rest of the lineup, will likely benefit from improved battery life thanks to the power efficiency of the A15, which should address concerns from iPhone 12 mini customers about short battery life.
Monday October 27, 2025 7:55 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more.
Below, we outline key details about iOS 26.1.
Release Date
Given that Apple has yet to seed an iOS 26.1 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, the...
Wednesday October 29, 2025 4:22 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple is about to drop iOS 26.1, the first major point release since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least six notable changes and improvements to look forward to. We've rounded them up below.
Apple has already provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 26.1, which means Apple will likely roll out the update to all compatible...
Monday October 27, 2025 4:51 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple is designing an updated version of the Apple TV 4K, and rumors suggest that it could come out sometime in the next couple of months. We're not expecting a major overhaul with design changes, but even a simple chip upgrade will bring major improvements to Apple's set-top box.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.
We've rounded up all the latest Apple TV rumors.
...
Tuesday October 28, 2025 1:07 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1 updates for testing purposes. The RCs betas come a week after Apple released the fourth betas.
The new betas can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software...
Monday October 27, 2025 9:15 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple this month refreshed the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with its new M5 chip, and higher-end 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips are expected to follow in early 2026. However, these machines will represent the final update to the current design, with Apple reportedly developing a completely new version of the MacBook Pro packed with next-generation hardware...
Tuesday October 28, 2025 1:21 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of macOS Tahoe 26.1, which means the update will likely see a public launch next week.
The release candidate includes notes on what's in the update, so we have a full picture of the new features that Apple has included.
macOS Tahoe 26.1 adds AutoMix support over AirPlay, improved FaceTime audio...
Thursday October 30, 2025 4:42 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max.
One thing worth...
Tuesday October 28, 2025 5:27 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple is preparing to bring support for its digital car key feature to Jetour vehicles, according to evidence uncovered on Apple's backend by MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris.
Introduced in 2022, Car Keys allows an iPhone or Apple Watch to unlock a vehicle through the Wallet app. A digital version of a car key is stored in Wallet, and unlocking can be done by holding an Apple Watch or...
Wednesday October 29, 2025 7:13 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Rumors are stoking excitement for the next-generation iPad mini that Apple is reportedly close to launching. So what should we expect from the successor to the iPad mini 7 that Apple released over a year ago? Read on to find out.
Processor and Performance
Apple is working on a next-generation version of the iPad mini (codename J510/J511) that features the A19 Pro chip, according to...
7th place is still very good, and above the much cheaper SE. It is the iPhone I want, but I barely use my iPhone while stuck at home, so not upgrading yet. Sales for the most portable phone are the most likely to be reduced by lack of mobility during the pandemic.
MacRumors attempts to paint the 12 mini as a failure are both obvious and pathetic and I do not understand why. So it’s not the #1 most popular phone in the world. It’s primarily being beat by its siblings. It’s outselling all three Android models. 1% of ALL Smartphones sold in the world for January is still in the millions of phones. Drop the hate already it’s making you look bad.
If it really is the 7th best selling smartphone of all the phones that can be purchased, is the iPhone 12 mini really a failure or disappointment? I can definitely see how it's surely selling much less than other iPhone models but compared against other smartphones, I'm sure it's selling really well. If in just iPhone-land it's selling better than the SE, I would hope that would justify enough keeping it around. If anything, I'm sure having it around increases the ASP of the iPhone as it increased the cost of the regular 12 compared to the 11.
