iPhone 14 — Apple will reportedly ditch mini for this

(Image credit: Apple tree Insider)

Fans of small phones may detect fewer options at Apple in the future, at to the lowest degree if a new report outlining the company'south time to come iPhone plans carries any weight. Over the next year, Apple'due south iPhone lineup could be overhauled, leaving just ane compact phone amid a host of devices with screens greater than 6 inches.

That'south not necessarily a new rumor, as multiple reports take suggested that the iPhone 13 mini will be the last of its kind when the iPhone 13 lineup debuts this fall. But the latest report of the mini's scheduled demise actualization in Nikkei Asia should add more grist for the rumor mill.

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Specifically, Nikkei says that Apple will introduce merely one small phone adjacent twelvemonth, a new version of the iPhone SE that volition arrive in the first one-half of 2022. (That reinforces a report from earlier this week about an early 2022 launch for the iPhone SE 3.) Nikkei's sources expect that telephone to add 5G connectivity while retaining the 4.7-inch LCD screen constitute in the electric current iPhone SE model — a fleck of a bummer if you were hoping that Apple would shrink downwards the bezels on that phone, too.

Come up the fall of 2022, the iPhone fourteen lineup would feature a less expensive half-dozen.1-inch telephone forth with the 6.one- and half dozen.7-inch iPhone 14 Pro models. To replace the mini in Apple tree's 2022 lineup, Nikkei claims Apple will release a lower cost 6.7-inch handset; similar rumors refer to that model equally the iPhone 14 Max.

Information technology's worth noting that should Nikkei's predictions come up to pass, Apple won't just be downwards to a single meaty phone — information technology will also exclusively characteristic 5G-capable devices. Non but will the iPhone 14 devices and iPhone SE 3 support 5G, but so will whatever older handsets Apple keeps around in 2022, every bit those volition likely include either iPhone 12 or iPhone 13 models.

Back to future iPhone sizes, though: even with 6-inch screens feeling like the unofficial minimum for a phone these days, the truth is that display sizes are getting larger, and customer demand is a big reason why. People uses their phones for an increasing number of tasks, and having more screen infinite to work with gives productivity a boost. That explains why phones with screens 6.vii inches and greater are an increasing ly common sight — and why phone makers are pushing screen sizes even further by turning to foldable phones.

Apple had been one of the few phone makers to offer multiple meaty models, introducing the 5.4-inch iPhone 12 mini last fall. But that phone reportedly hasn't sold well, though Apple is expected to keep the mini around for the iPhone 13 lineup.

Subsequently that, information technology's everyone'due south guess. But increasingly, the rumors surrounding Apple'south future plans suggest the iPhone is going to follow the rest of the pack past going big.

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Philip Michaels is a senior editor at Tom'southward Guide. He has strong opinions about Apple, the Oakland Athletics and former movies. Follow him at @PhilipMichaels.