It looks like the iPhone mini’s time may be up.
The iPhone 14 series is thought to be the end of the mini-sized iPhone. Instead, Apple is expected to make the iPhone 14 Plus/Max, which is a bigger standard iPhone.
This rumor seems to be true based on a supposed case leak found on the Chinese social networking site Weibo, which gives us a good idea of how each iPhone 14 will look in the hand.
As you can see in the image below, size won’t be a difference between the Pro and non-Pro iPhones anymore. Both models will have sizes of 6.1 inches and 6.7 inches. From left to right, you can see the iPhone 14, the iPhone 14 Pro, the iPhone 14 Max (or maybe “Plus”), and the iPhone 14 Pro Max.
At first glance, these phones look almost exactly like recent Apple designs, except for the iPhone 14 Max/Plus. If you’re coming from an iPhone 12 or iPhone 13, you might not need these cases. But the Weibo poster says that the space between the lenses is a little bit bigger, so you’ll probably still need a new case.
We’ve heard this before, and videos of dummy units show a bigger camera bump, likely to make up for rumors that the Pro models will get an upgrade to 48 megapixels.
The Pro argument
Apple’s next-generation Pro and non-Pro phones are said to be different in more ways than just the big camera upgrade. Buyers of the iPhone 14 Pro can reportedly look forward to the death (of sorts) of the notch, a screen that stays on all the time, and a faster phone thanks to a new A16 Bionic chip.
In the past, this last point was the same for everyone. Even the basic iPhone SE 2022 would have the same A15 chip as the iPhone 13 series. But Apple seems to want to make the difference between the Pro and regular models clearer this time. For example, the regular iPhone 14 will likely keep the chipset from last year in an effort to sell more Pro models.
It’s a risky but probably smart move for Apple’s shareholders, and most buyers probably won’t care because the A15 is still much faster than other smartphone chipsets.
But it’s not a risk-free plan. There are lots of deals on the iPhone 13 because stores want to get rid of their stock before the next launch. If the regular iPhone 14 has the same chip as the previous generation, many potential buyers may decide to save a few bucks and buy the older phones.
In the end, Apple’s plan to sell more expensive versions of its new hardware may make the iPhone 13 Pro seem like a better buy than a regular iPhone 14. And if enough people agree with that, it could affect Apple’s quarterly sales numbers in strange ways.
