Apple should make a new iPhone mini, and here's how I want it to look

Summary

Silicon-carbon tech enables more space-efficient batteries, which could solve the biggest complaint about mini models.
A new mini would also benefit from more power-efficient chip designs and dynamic display technology.
Nevertheless, Apple might not be able to find room for a new mini in its lineup unless it makes it a foldable.

Something I find interesting — encouraging, even — is that while there haven’t been any new mini iPhones since the iPhone 13 mini, some people are still clinging onto them for dear life. These die-hards insist that life is better with a phone under six inches, since you can actually use it with one hand. Never mind that Minis are no longer state-of-the-art, and launched with weak battery life that’s only degraded over time — the fans are making it work in the name of their preferred form factor. It’s a small act of rebellion, literally.

There’s no sign that Apple’s going to release a new mini anytime soon, since the one addition to the iPhone 17 lineup is rumored to be the iPhone 17 Air, emphasizing thinness instead of screen size. With recent trends and technological advancements, however, the time could be ripe to reconsider the idea, perhaps in time for the iPhone 18 or 19.

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The key breakthrough

Kiss battery complaints goodbye

A person holding the OnePlus 13 over an ocean.

The most significant development is the arrival of silicon-carbon (Si-C) batteries. These are an evolution of the lithium-ion batteries we’re used to, but with an important change — increased energy density. That means it’s possible to deliver the same amount of energy in a smaller battery pack, or even better longevity from a standard-sized one.

We’re already seeing the fruits of this in some devices. The best-known example is probably the OnePlus 13, which has a 6,000mAh capacity. While it’s still best to charge it overnight, the product can legitimately make it two days with light use. The same is true of some other Si-C phones, which are being churned out by brands like Oppo, Vivo, and Realme.

Brand: OnePlus
SoC: Snapdragon 8 Elite
Display: 6.82-inch, 3168 × 1440 pixel resolution (510ppi) 120Hz adaptive refresh
RAM: 12GB, 16GB

Si-C iPhones are only a matter of time, and a new Mini would be the perfect use case.

In fact, what’s strange at the moment is that Apple and Samsung haven’t followed suit. Apple skipped the technology for the iPhone 16 series, and seems poised to do the same with the iPhone 17 lineup, given rumors about how weak the iPhone 17 Air’s battery life has been in testing. Samsung, meanwhile, was expected to use Si-C in the Galaxy S25 Edge, but chose not to, despite charging a premium over the S25+. At the moment, both companies seem to think that customers care more about thinness and weight than how long their devices run.

Si-C iPhones are only a matter of time, luckily, and a new mini would be the perfect use case. A hypothetical iPhone 18 mini would still lag behind the regular iPhone 18 in runtime — assuming both upgrade to Si-C — but it would still be a very practical device, able to go from wake-up to bedtime without needing mid-day refueling. If you’re holding onto an iPhone 12 mini these days, an early-afternoon charging session is probably unavoidable.

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How else could a new iPhone mini improve?

Miniaturization to the rescue

Person holding black iPhone 16e against a white background.

A new Mini could also take advantage of progress in other areas too, such as processor design. Apple’s main chip manufacturer, TSMC, is rolling out a 2nm process this year — when you consider that the A15 Bionic processor in the iPhone 13 mini was built using 5nm technology, there’s potential for serious improvements in component size and/or power efficiency.

Every little bit counts when you’re trying to compress a bigger phone design into the tiniest possible space.

Another thing you could count on is Apple trying to squeeze as much as possible into custom chips. Its first cellular modem, the C1, debuted on the iPhone 16e earlier this year, and the company is allegedly working on an all-in-one wireless chip supporting Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and other protocols. If that happens, it could bump efficiency up another notch.

There’s potential for serious improvements in component size and power efficiency.

Apple might also be able to shrink or completely eliminate the camera notch, maximizing space on a small display (small by modern standards, anyway). Eliminating it would require using under-display technology, which has proved a little flaky on competing hardware — but if there’s any company that could make it work well, it’s probably Apple.

Another aid to battery life would be the adoption of a 120Hz ProMotion display. That’s said to be coming to non-Pro iPhones for the first time with the iPhone 17, and it matters beyond just smooth scrolling — the tech allows screens to drop to as little as 1Hz based on content, saving power in some circumstances while enabling always-on functions (such as StandBy) in others. Conceivably, an iPhone 18 mini with AOD tech disabled could last for a very long time… enough to skip overnight plug-ins now and then, I’ll bet.

An iPhone 16 Pro with the flash going off.

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What are the chances of a new iPhone mini?

Final thoughts

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 partly folded.

Sadly, I’m not counting on it. A new Mini could sit in a strange middleground in Apple’s future lineups, being more expensive than an iPhone 18e, but without the thinness advantage of an iPhone 18 Air. Along those lines, Apple seems newly re-committed to the idea of ultra-thin products — just look at the M4 iPad Pro, which was so thin that it fueled worries about a second Bendgate (unfounded, thankfully). The company’s not going to shift focus away from the Air form factor unless the iPhone 17 Air is a complete disaster.

Niches still demand to be served, however.

More importantly, perhaps, the smartphone industry in general has drifted away from screens under six inches. For whatever reason, mini iPhones never sold well, and the last flagship phone of any kind with sub-6 dimensions was the ASUS Zenfone 10. Compact phones have become a niche, with most shoppers choosing larger screens even if it means two-handed texting, or occasionally struggling to fit their phones in their pockets.

Niches still demand to be served, however. One approach Apple could take is building a clamshell foldable, akin to Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 6 — this might enable one-handed texting from an external screen, while keeping a bigger primary screen available for things like YouTube and web browsing. It’s such an obvious idea, really, that the real question may be when it’s coming, not if. The first folding iPhone is expected to be a book-style model due in 2026, so we’re probably a couple of years out from a clamshell, at least.