Snippet: The iPhone mini ☇

Jonathan Ruiz for Thermal Corner:

The mini size class is not long for this world. I didn’t expect to find myself in this position. It almost feels like how I imagine fans of the home button feel. A thing Apple has made but doesn’t seem interested in making anymore. I think this is the first time this has happened to me with an Apple product. Loving something that will ultimately go away. It’s not a good feeling.

Now I know no one is taking this 12 mini from me and forcing me to upgrade. I can continue to use it and enjoy it for several more years. Apple is very good about supporting hardware with software updates for a long time. But this just doesn’t feel like a viable strategy.

The 12 mini is my daily driver and it’s still one of my favorite iPhones ever. While I’ll be able to adapt to whatever is available next year or the year after, it is disappointing how quickly Apple abandoned this form factor, especially as so many carrier incentives were centered around the regular 12 and 13 (if you took a mini, you were leaving $100 on the table).