- iPhone 12 mini sales have reportedly been more sluggish than Apple anticipated, but sources claim that the iPhone 13 mini will still go ahead as planned.
- Apple leaker Jon Prosser claims that Apple won’t release another small iPhone SE model this year, which might allow the iPhone 13 mini to find a larger audience.
- Prosser also suggests that an iPhone SE Plus could be announced at some point in 2021.
Despite all of the chaos and uncertainly of 2020, Apple decided to take the unprecedented step of launching four new iPhone models at once last fall. The iPhone 12, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12 Pro, and iPhone 12 Pro Max all made their debuts on the same day, giving Apple fans more choice than ever when it came to upgrading their phones. There was just one problem: Not many consumers were interested in the cheapest, smallest new iPhone.
In the months since the iPhone 12 series arrived, we have heard from a number of sources that the iPhone 12 mini is the least popular of the models. In fact, sales are reportedly so low that Apple is considering ceasing production of the iPhone 12 mini in the second quarter, convinced that the supply will be enough to carry the device through 2020. This might sound like enough to push Apple into ditching the mini model in 2021, but according to at least one tipster, the company plans to stick with the same lineup for at least one more year.
In the latest episode of Front Page Tech, host Jon Prosser says that sources have told him Apple plans to release an iPhone 13 mini this fall. Prosser says that the market Apple was targeting with its $699 iPhone 12 mini bought a $399 second-generation iPhone SE instead. Basically, there are those who think that Apple cannibalized itself in 2020, but that may not be a problem this year, as there won’t be another small iPhone SE model in 2021.
According to Prosser, if Apple releases a new iPhone SE this year, it will be an iPhone SE Plus with a larger display. This should give the iPhone 13 mini a fighting chance when it launches this fall, as there won’t be another brand new iPhone with a small form factor available for nearly half the price.
Prosser isn’t the first to claim that Apple will follow the same formula is 2021 with four new iPhone models, but the evidence continues to stack up that the relative success or failure of the iPhone 12 mini won’t affect the existence of the iPhone 13 mini. Providing Apple does skip at least a year before releasing another iPhone SE (after all, it was four years between the first- and second-generation models), that might be enough to drive consumers who prefer phones with smaller form factors to the 13 mini that might otherwise have bought an iPhone SE 3. Prosser wasn’t quite ready to talk in detail about Apple’s rumored spring event, but perhaps we’ll see the iPhone SE Plus there.
