Apple certainly turned a few heads when, in October, it unveiled the iPhone 12 mini – a smaller version of the iPhone 12 announced the same day.
More than that, though, the new mini is the smallest iPhone since the first-generation iPhone SE released in 2016. It’s no wonder small-phone aficionados are excited.
However, while the mini is almost as small as the old SE overall, the former’s display is much larger, measuring 5.4 inches compared to the latter’s four inches. Could this be a game-changer for your business?
Could the small screen hamper your productivity?
WIRED has hailed “the triumphant return of the good small phone”, declaring that the mini only differs from the full-fat 12 in having roughly three fewer square centimetres of display.
While, on closer inspection, this isn’t quite the sole difference after all, it’s nonetheless a pretty notable – and potentially divisive – one.
The Guardian’s consumer technology editor Samuel Gibbs warns: “Trying to review some documents on the 12 mini was a painful mess of zooming, scrolling and eventually giving up to go to a bigger device.”
Why 5G is worth a high five
On a more positive note, the 12 mini is – like the rest of the iPhone 12 family – equipped with 5G cellular connectivity. Computerworld’s Jonny Evans enthuses: “For enterprise professionals, 5G will deliver more secure and – perhaps – more reliable connectivity to get work done”, often wherever these workers are.
With the corporate telecoms provider Gamma preparing to roll out 5G infrastructure, your business could take up Gamma’s Horizon Collaborate phone system product to capitalise on this rollout.
Why the ultra-wideband U1 processor could have ultra-wide uses
“The ultra-what-now?” Yes, it’s a feature you could have easily overlooked in reports of the iPhone 12 mini, given how dauntingly technical-sounding this chip is.
However, while your business might initially put it to somewhat modest uses such as sharing files or replacing your company car’s keys should they be misplaced, “Apple made it relatively clear that security is part of its overall plan for the standard,” Evans points out.
The super-fast – and super-intelligent – A14 Bionic processor
These days, the processors that Apple places at the heart of its smartphones have names that sound like something from a Terminator film – but, fortunately, it probably doesn’t mean any impending apocalypse for either the world or your business specifically.
The A14 Bionic processor not only delivers market-leading speed but also includes the multi-core Neural Engine, which your firm could potentially harness in the future for a broad range of machine learning tasks.
Will the iPhone 12 mini’s battery last you a whole workday?
There’s a lot to like about the iPhone 12 mini, but its battery life could prove a stumbling block if you aim to use the handset for business purposes.
Gibbs observes that, while the mini can last 37 hours between charges with the screen on for four of those hours, the corresponding hourly tallies for the 6.1-inch iPhone 12 are respectively – and comparatively impressively – 40 and over six.
