There Is No iPhone 15 Mini: Here's Why

The iPhone 15 lineup noticeably lacks a model with a display size below six inches, just two years after Apple extolled the virtues of a 5.4-inch device. So why did Apple eliminate the "mini" device that some iPhone customers had come to love?

iPhone mini wonder feature yellow
Apple debuted the iPhone 12 mini in 2020 following years of calls from ‌iPhone‌ fans for the company to offer a small-screen device with the latest features. When Apple did so, it was assumed that the small form factor would persist for several years, but the device came to a seemingly premature end upon the release of the ‌iPhone‌ 14 lineup in 2022. Upon the release of the ‌iPhone 15‌ lineup, Apple retired the last remaining device with the "mini" form factor.

Concerns first arose when the ‌iPhone 12 mini‌ appeared to not be selling as well as Apple had hoped, making up just six percent of ‌iPhone‌ 12 sales in the U.S. in October and November 2020, according to data gathered by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP). Counterpoint Research reported that the ‌iPhone 12 mini‌ accounted for only five percent of all ‌iPhone‌ 12 sales in the U.S. in the first half of January 2021.

Morgan Stanley believed that Apple chose to cut production of the ‌iPhone 12 mini‌ by two million units to create more manufacturing capacity for the more popular ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro. This was mirrored by a Taiwanese report, citing supply chain sources, which said that strong demand for ‌‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro‌ models in China led Apple to increase its supply of the more expensive devices.

Most strikingly, JP Morgan Chase claimed that Apple outright halted ‌iPhone 12 mini‌ production in the second quarter of 2021. While the sales reports for the ‌iPhone 12 mini‌ did not bode well for the ‌iPhone‌ 13 mini, Apple plans its ‌iPhone‌ production and supply chain operations well in advance of launch, meaning that the ‌iPhone‌ 13 mini was already well on the way to production by the time the issues with the ‌iPhone 12 mini‌'s sales were clear.

In April 2022, CIRP released more data suggesting that the ‌iPhone‌ 13 mini accounted for just 3 percent of ‌iPhone‌ 13 sales – half that of the ‌iPhone 12 mini‌. These continued poor sales were likely the main reason behind the demise of the "mini" form factor ‌iPhone‌.

With the ‌iPhone‌ 14 lineup, Apple opted to replace the "mini" device with an all-new "Plus" device that matched the 6.7-inch display size of its high-end "Pro Max" models. In some respects, the "Plus" mirrors the "mini," offering the latest ‌iPhone‌'s features in a different display size. Instead of offering a lightweight small-screen option, customers can now choose an even bigger battery and 6.7-inch display – the same size that "Pro Max" customers have been used to for over five years, now at a price of $1,199 – but at a much more accessible $899 price point.

Less than a week after the launch of the ‌iPhone‌ 14, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that demand for the two devices was "lackluster," with worse pre-order results than the third-generation ‌iPhone‌ SE and the ‌iPhone‌ 13 mini. He went as far as to claim that "Apple's product segmentation strategy for standard models fails this year" and Apple was believed to have shelved plans to increase production of the two devices. Display analyst Ross Young said panel orders for the ‌‌iPhone‌ 14‌ were down 38 percent versus the ‌‌iPhone‌ 13‌ at the same time last year, while in the resale market, the ‌iPhone‌ 14 and ‌iPhone‌ 14 Plus lost their value twice as fast as the ‌iPhone‌ 13 mini and ‌iPhone‌ 13 from the previous year.

Other reports from the likes of DigiTimes overwhelmingly presented the same picture of low ‌iPhone‌ 14 Plus sales, to the extent that Apple was forced to slash production, suggesting that the low sales of the ‌iPhone 12 mini‌ and ‌iPhone‌ 13 mini may not have been caused by the device's size after all. Whether the ‌iPhone 15‌ Plus will fare better is yet to be seen.

There are no plans to revive the ‌iPhone‌'s "mini" form factor in Apple's pipeline, according to rumors. The smallest iPhones in the works, such as next year's iPhone 16 and the fourth-generation ‌iPhone‌ SE, are expected to feature 6.1-inch displays. On the contrary, some future devices, such as the iPhone 16 Pro and ‌iPhone 16 Pro‌ Max, are expected to grow even larger, increasing to 6.3- and 6.9-inches, respectively.

Popular Stories

apple watch ultra 2 new black

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Finally Coming After Two-Year Hiatus

Monday June 16, 2025 8:45 am PDT by
Apple will finally deliver the Apple Watch Ultra 3 sometime this year, according to analyst Jeff Pu of GF Securities Hong Kong (via @jukanlosreve). The analyst expects both the Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3 to arrive this year (likely alongside the new iPhone 17 lineup, if previous launches are anything to go by), according to his latest product roadmap shared with...
iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Three Months With These 12 New Features

Saturday June 14, 2025 5:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14 Pro have a...
apple wallet drivers license feature iPhone 15 pro

iPhone Driver's Licenses: These 17 U.S. States Offer Them or Will Later

Thursday June 19, 2025 11:28 am PDT by
In select U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or state ID to the Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, providing a convenient and contactless way to display proof of identity or age at select airports and businesses, and in select apps. Unfortunately, this feature continues to roll out very slowly since it was announced in 2021, with only nine U.S. states and Puerto...
ios 26 call holding

iOS 26 Beta is Hiding a New Ringtone — Here's What It Sounds Like

Thursday June 19, 2025 7:25 pm PDT by
Apple is hiding a new ringtone within iOS 26. The new ringtone is an alternative version of the existing Reflection ringtone, which has been the default ringtone since the iPhone X was released in 2017. It was discovered within the code for the first developer beta of iOS 26, but it remains hidden, so you will not find it in the list of ringtones available in the Settings app for now. It...
iOS 18

Apple Releases iOS 18.6 Public Beta

Wednesday June 18, 2025 10:24 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the first betas of upcoming iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 updates to public beta testers, with the betas coming just a few days after Apple provided the betas to developers. Testers who have signed up for beta updates through Apple's beta site can download iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software Update. When the...
iOS 26 on Three iPhones

Apple Says iOS 26 Won't Be Available on These iPhone Models

Tuesday June 10, 2025 6:58 am PDT by
Apple this week revealed that iOS 26 is compatible with the iPhone 11 series and newer. That means that iOS 18 is the end of the road for the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR, which were all released in 2018. However, those devices will continue to receive security updates for at least a few more years. iOS 26 is compatible with the following iPhone models: iPhone 16e iPhone...
new iphone lockscreen ios 26

iOS 26: Five Changes Coming to Your iPhone Lock Screen

Tuesday June 17, 2025 8:46 am PDT by
With iOS 26, Apple has made some additions to the iPhone Lock Screen that aim to make it more customizable than ever. Of course, things can always change before the software makes its way to the general iPhone-owning public, but here are five new things iOS 26 can do on the Lock Screen as of the current developer beta. Widgets Top or Bottom In iOS 18, the row of widgets on your Lock...
apple watch ultra snow

6 Features Coming to the Apple Watch Ultra 3

Tuesday February 25, 2025 9:00 am PST by
The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is expected to launch later this year, arriving two years after the previous model with a series of improvements. While no noticeable design changes are expected for the third generation since the company tends to stick with the same Apple Watch design through three generations before changing it, there are a series of internal upgrades on the way. By the time the ...
General Spotify Feature

Spotify Preparing to Launch Long-Awaited Lossless Audio Tier on iPhone

Thursday June 19, 2025 1:46 pm PDT by
Spotify appears to be gearing up to launch its long-awaited lossless music tier. Chris Messina (via TechCrunch) and Spicetify (via The Verge) spotted new lossless references within the code for Spotify's desktop app and web player. With assistance from Aaron Perris, MacRumors has confirmed that the latest beta of the Spotify app for the iPhone also contains new lossless-related code....

Top Rated Comments

Kiro Avatar
23 months ago
iPhone 12 _pro_ mini would have sold millions….
Score: 75 Votes (Like | Disagree)
soloohara Avatar
23 months ago
i have the 12 mini and looks like normal size, the 15 pro looks big, and the max its abnormally larger, what hands do you have guys? lol the mini is being treated as very small when in reality is normal size, as smartphones should be honestly...
Score: 62 Votes (Like | Disagree)
vertsix Avatar
23 months ago
I briefly had the 12 mini. I am a huge fan of the mini phones, I think they were great - but I ended up opting for the Pros for better specs, particularly ProMotion.

I'd be using a mini today if it was uncompromising in features to the Pro models, even with an expected hit in battery life.

But, sadly, Apple believed that the niche market of mini enjoyers (ourselves) would be OK with these compromises, and that the majority of people would give up larger screens for smaller ones.

Make a 16 Pro mini!
Score: 57 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Arctic Moose Avatar
23 months ago

iPhone 12 _pro_ mini would have sold millions….
I’d easily pay $2000 for an iPhone 15 Pro mini.
Score: 56 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SW3029 Avatar
23 months ago
The iPhone mini failed because the people on MacRumors' forums are a poor representational sample of the larger consumer population.
Score: 47 Votes (Like | Disagree)
waquzy Avatar
23 months ago

I’d easily pay $2000 for an iPhone 15 Pro mini.
I wouldn't pay that much, but I wouldn't mind paying Pro prices for Pro Mini that's for sure.
Score: 42 Votes (Like | Disagree)