iPhone SE (2016) Any SE1'ers upgrading to Mini?

[slplss]

I'm only a bit concerned about is the alleged downscaling. At least the OLED panel is made by Samsung, which has always been a safe bet. Will wait for release to check battery life tests and camera comparisons (you never know).
Nonetheless, it will be a huge upgrade from my 16 GB SE I recently switched to as a ticket to Apple's accessories ecosystem.


My SE 1st gen in Mini's case (taken with much laggier Galaxy S7, with sad forever empty case for 12 next to it).
You can compare various phone sizes in 3D here.

 

[daanodinot]

Considering it, although there will be some downgrades:

• The notch (probably not a big deal)
• Concerns about PWM
• No Touch ID for masks
• No headphone jack (I’ll have to use an adapter for my over-ears)

So it’s not a straight-forward upgrade for me.

Edit: just saw you linked to my post. Nice! I don’t think the pixel thing will be a problem in real life. More psychological probably.

 

[CrazyForCashews]

No Touch ID for masks

TouchID would've made the Mini perfect.

FaceID in this current state of world affairs is absolutely useless. No wonder why Apple didn't mention a single thing about it when they announced the iPhone 12.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I’m conflicted.

I’d like newer cameras, but I’m not excited about losing Touch-ID and the headphone jack (I use it daily).

And - the price is rather high also.

I was all gung-ho at announcement time and the closer the preorder date has come, the more I’ve been wavering. Now I don’t know what I want to do honestly.

I am starting to think of riding the SE1 for another year in hopes of a 13 mini with Touch-ID

 

[ScholarsInk]

Definitely. It's the first real iPhone since the (actually-'special') SE.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I am upgrading. iOS 14 is killing my battery pretty fast every day.

 

[klasma]

I decided to give the mini a try, despite notch, no TouchID, glass back, black bezels (I prefer white), side power button (I prefer on top), larger body, camera bump, increased weight, and reduced “thumbability” due to the larger display. (Wow, that’s a lot of downsides now that I list them. )

The main reason is that apps and websites are becoming increasingly awkward to operate on the small SE screen, as no one designs or probably even tests for it anymore. Also my eyes aren’t getting better, so a slightly larger and brighter screen (in daylight) might be a good thing.

I’m also hoping for better camera (not a heavy user though), slightly better performance and battery life under iOS14 (I’m currently still on 13 on the SE), and possibly better connectivity (bluetooth/wifi/mobile).

In case I don’t like the mini, I’ll revert to my SE. I still have a brand-new unopened backup 128GB SE1 in the drawer.

 

[turbineseaplane]

@klasma

That's a very reasonable take and I think I'm in near total agreement with you.

I'll probably give it a go, as the only thing that's starting to really bug me on my existing SE is the speed on some apps and, like you said, somewhat awkward layouts at this point due to the reasons you mentioned.

I do wish it was more of a clear "win" (especially for so much money). I agree with most of your downsides.

 

[klasma]

Here’s an actual mini vs. 5S (photo from TheVerge hands on):

 

[turbineseaplane]

This might be unpopular and/or dismissed by many — but I really wish it wasn’t taller.

The height of my SE1 is already at the max of my personal usage enjoyment honestly.

 

[klasma]

4S/mini/5S:

 

[turbineseaplane]

Oh — you had to put the 4s in there didn’t ya?!

Cruel!

I think the 4s might be the best iPhone ever (for me).
I know many go bonkers for more and more screen, but with how I use iPhones (I am heavy on my iPads, phones not so much)...the smaller, lighter, more comfy in hand — the better.

 

[klasma]

This might be unpopular and/or dismissed by many — but I really wish it wasn’t taller.

The height of my SE1 is already at the max of my personal usage enjoyment honestly.

I agree, I wish it wouldn’t exceed the 5 size. I guess it’s a compromise because they didn’t want to introduce a new logical resolution for apps (the mini behaves like a scaled-down X), and shrinking the touch targets too much creates its own problems. Also the MagSafe ring wouldn’t fit into a smaller (narrower) chassis.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Also the MagSafe ring wouldn’t fit into a smaller (narrower) chassis.

This might also be unpopular, but if it would have made it smaller or less expensive (or both), I absolutely would have preferred they skip MagSafe for the 12 Mini.

Anyhow - I’ll try to be less bummed and I don’t want to sound negative, etc - I’m happy they are making something smaller/small-ish (sort of), even if it isn’t truly as “mini” as I’d like (especially the price part).

 

[klasma]

Oh — you had to put the 4s in there didn’t ya?!

The mini looks like a Pro Max next to the 4S.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I guess I wish the Mini would have had some elements of a “budget” offering such as:

- Skip MagSafe

- LCD instead of OLED (could be big cost savings there + I’m worried about PWM as I’m someone who has been bothered by that on other devices before)

- A touch smaller yet

- TouchID in power button instead of FaceID

 

[happy orchard]

I decided to give the mini a try, despite notch, no TouchID, glass back, black bezels (I prefer white), side power button (I prefer on top), larger body, camera bump, increased weight, and reduced “thumbability” due to the larger display. (Wow, that’s a lot of downsides now that I list them. )

I prefer white bezels, too! Thank you for sharing and making me feel less alone in this big world.

 

[Spike77777]

Thought about upgrading but decided the SE does everything I need. Stayed on iOS 13.5 so no battery drain to worry about.
Maybe next year, don't see a reason at the moment.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I upgraded and I am happy with the mini.

 

[v386]

I move to the mini from the 1st gen SE, for me it's an upgrade in general. Different things bug me about the 12 mini such as the weight, but with two days of use I've pretty much adjusted to the size and weight. The thing that I'm having a harder time getting used to is the color shift when viewed from an angle. Even a small angle as little as 15 degrees makes a discernable blue shift. Because the color shift occurs as such as small tilt it happens all the time. The battery life is the single biggest upgrade, though it really doesn't matter that much to me as I now get through the day with 70% battery left and that's with 20% higher usage than normal. The speed of the processor seems to make a big difference, whatever the reason is that mail slowed down so much with ios 13 seems to be related at least in part to something the processor is doing on the device, there is still a delay to see mail when opening the app but it is just a small delay vs 'Apple doesn't support push email' like you get on the SE.

 

[neoelectronaut]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1327842252933173250

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1328173774534041600

 

[Reno Raines]

I would think a lot of the SE1 owners went with the SE2 but that is just a guess.

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

I guess I wish the Mini would have had some elements of a “budget” offering such as:

- Skip MagSafe

- LCD instead of OLED (could be big cost savings there + I’m worried about PWM as I’m someone who has been bothered by that on other devices before)

- A touch smaller yet

- TouchID in power button instead of FaceID

I think you will get your wish with a future SE3 for several of these..

 

[lpc2]

I thought about upgrading from my SE1 but am leaning towards waiting another year. I have a mix of reasons. One is that touch ID is better when I am at the store with a face mask. While it is the least expensive of the 12s it is still more than what I really want to spend right now. Also I am still happy with my original SE and just not feeling a need to change. I know that at some point I will need to move on. Just not right now.

 

[slplss]

I thought about upgrading from my SE1 but am leaning towards waiting another year. I have a mix of reasons. One is that touch ID is better when I am at the store with a face mask. While it is the least expensive of the 12s it is still more than what I really want to spend right now. Also I am still happy with my original SE and just not feeling a need to change. I know that at some point I will need to move on. Just not right now.

Yeah, no need to rush it. With iOS 14, SE is still perfectly fine and usable phone. I'm just limited by the 16GB memory (reinstalling apps every other day) and battery (drops from 20 to 0 in matter of minutes).

My story - I was a good iSheep back then (3GS, 4, MBPs, iPads) and conviced my whole family to switch to iPhones. This was followed by "woke" iDroid period that lasted for couple of years until 11 Pro grabbed my attention (I'll never get that Midnight Green ?). I used to laugh when my family kept up with their inferior LCD displays and outdated, uninovative designs, now they laugh back at me when watching me struggle with their SE. But, Apple did it again (from my history, you see why I crave for the Mini), and my day is simply better with Airpods Pro and AW6, I'm more active I've ever been.

I'm still waiting till December (longer return times, and usually Online Store gift cards from Apple).
Stuck in love/hate relationship with my SE in the meantime.