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I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone (2022)

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Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone (2022)

#271

Post by jeffhuys »

leke wrote: post #202

It was quite strange to read this title this morning as my 15 year old daughter just received her iPhone 13 mini yesterday from Swappie. She too was complaining that the android phones are too big for her little hands. I tried all my reasoning skills to persuade her to stick with android, but ultimately she nagged me into getting a second hand one that is still way too expensive in my opinion. Well it looks like she…

Thing about iphones is yea, they’re expensive, but if well-cared for can last you longer. I’m on a 6-year upgrade cycle and could stretch that more if I wanted to. Will go from my 12 pro to the 18 or 19 pro.

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone (2022)

#272

Post by microtonal »

scarface_74 wrote: post #65
pclowes wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just don't see the value add anymore and the company appears to have lost its product vision and the design sensibilities are slipping. Apple is controlled by a geriatric board and a logistics expert and it shows. I feel I am more frequently encountering software bugs, vaporware,(dESiGnEd fOr ApPle InTelLiGeNce), and ridiculous "innovation" (genmoji). I feel the hardware advances are not very relevant to me, I don'…

What Linux computer can you buy with the battery life, quietness, lack of heat and speed of a modern ARM based Mac? As far as phones - your alternative is to buy an Android phone with an operating system by an ad company that is also pushing AI just as hard. And you still end up getting most apps from the Google Play Store. By the way, iMessage supports SMS/MMS/RCS for interoperability. What else do you want?

What Linux computer can you buy with the battery life, quietness, lack of heat and speed of a modern ARM based Mac?

Battery life, probably none. For the rest it's pretty ok now - I recently got a ThinkPad T14. Performance-wise it's in M1/M2 territory and yes the fans can spin up, but they are not very loud.

I have used MacBooks since 2007, but I have started using the ThinkPad more and more. Why?

I put in 64GiB RAM and a 2TB SSD and it cost me almost nothing. The laptop plus these expansions was 1400 or 1500 Euro, a MacBook with 64GiB RAM and 2TB SSD would cost me 5000 Euro. When the battery has had its time, I can replace it by removing a few screws. I added a PCI cellular modem. The expandability and maintanability is just great.

Even though the GPU in my MacBook Pro (M3 Pro) blows away the ThinkPad's GPU on paper, the ThinkPad with Wayland actually renders everything super-smoothly on my 120Hz 4K screen, while on the MacBook the difference between 60Hz and 120Hz is barely noticeable. On the ThinkPad I can run NixOS, which is generally much nicer than macOS.

The primary thing that my MacBook has over my ThinkPad are battery life and a bunch of really good Mac applications like the Affinity Suite. But since more and more applications are switching to Electron, it has become less of a problem. Heck, I even have 1Password with fingerprint unlock, etc. like if it was a MacBook.

As far as phones - your alternative is to buy an Android phone with an operating system by an ad company that is also pushing AI just as hard.

Or I don't know, you buy a Pixel, install GrapheneOS, and you have better privacy than on an iPhone? And no F1 movie ads too.

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone (2022)

#273

Post by deffrin »

If I have money and the knowledge to build a phone, surely i will make it possible one day.

But I don't know why new innovative people are not getting into smartphone making.

Everyone is trying to make the next big software. But why that grit is missing to bring the variety into small hardware devices that target majority?

Or, is it not reaching people like me? Is it the lack of awareness?

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone (2022)

#274

Post by ge96 »

deffrin wrote: post #273

If I have money and the knowledge to build a phone, surely i will make it possible one day. But I don't know why new innovative people are not getting into smartphone making. Everyone is trying to make the next big software. But why that grit is missing to bring the variety into small hardware devices that target majority? Or, is it not reaching people like me? Is it the lack of awareness?

One reason is the modem, proprietary blob

I think another reason is sourcing good parts that aren't old and bulky, speaking from the Linux phones I tried

Also drivers somebody has to write em

I used to be annoyed that you had to choose between Android or iOS

I wish android phones had lidar

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone (2022)

#275

Post by hdgvhicv »

microtonal wrote: post #261
al_borland wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple did a horrible job marketing the mini. I ran into a lot of people who saw my 12 mini and said they would prefer that size, but didn’t know it existed. When I went to buy it, and the case, the employees at the Apple Store questioned me and tried to push me toward the normal iPhone. This is the first and only time I’ve ever felt Apple Store employees steering purchasing decisions. I had to go in there knowing wha…

When I went to buy it, and the case, the employees at the Apple Store questioned me and tried to push me toward the normal iPhone. Probably because they knew that customers would come back to complain about the abysmal battery life of the Mini? I had a 12 Mini, I loved that phone, but man was it hard to get through the day on a single charge.

My 12 mini is nearly 5 years old and still lasts the day unless I’m watching a movie etc on a train for a few hours or something.

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone (2022)

#276

Post by dakiol »

pclowes wrote: post #8

My cynical take is that small phones don't exist because they are not the product. Similar to vape pens the product is the addictive substance the device loads. In this case its apps and ads. A smaller screen probably negatively impacts KPIs on many levels, at Google/Apple/Meta/X and on down through the ecosystem. I understand that Apple did not make enough money to make it worth their while to continue the iphone mi…

I don’t know.If I have a “big” phone (anything bigger than the iphone mini, at least for me), I’ll leave it at home most of the time. But if it’s small, I’ll take it with me everywhere. So I can be bombarded with crap more time if I use a small phone.

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone (2022)

#277

Post by Marazan »

2muchcoffeeman wrote: post #91
pclowes wrote: post #8

My cynical take is that small phones don't exist because they are not the product. Similar to vape pens the product is the addictive substance the device loads. In this case its apps and ads. A smaller screen probably negatively impacts KPIs on many levels, at Google/Apple/Meta/X and on down through the ecosystem. I understand that Apple did not make enough money to make it worth their while to continue the iphone mi…

You’re way too cynical and have let your cynicism cloud history. The first phablets were probably the Galaxy Note line starting in 2011 which was met with some skepticism due to the size of them. These were well before the edge to edge screen days. So you had 5.7 inch screens with a bezel. They were huge but I would routinely see small women pull these things out of their hand bags and press a device that obscured al…

It's amusing how people try an memory hole their negative reaction and pieces written about the Note. People's mocking web pages have disappeared. Arguments based on the size of the human hand completely forgotten. The very notion that a 5.7 inch screen is big an unwieldly is now met with disdain.

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone (2022)

#278

Post by microtonal »

scarface_74 wrote: post #243
pclowes wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think there are a lot of offerings out there now. Maybe not to the minute with respect to battery life but Apples chip advantage is steadily evaporating. I typically don't need more than 8 hours of battery personally. Have heard good things about framework computers. As a more efficient chip or battery comes out you just upgrade that component if your use case requires it.

It’s never been “just the chip” for major architectural changes even within x86. It’s replacing the entire motherboard and surrounding components. What offerings are out there for speed/no fan (quiet)/and lack of heat with battery life?

By the way, it's not a lack of heat in the Air. The M4 will hit 105°C and start throttling pretty soon in sustained workloads. At any rate, modern Ryzen laptop CPUs have narrowed the gap with Apple Silicon performance-wise. It's mostly battery life that's still lagging behind. It not only requires a mainboard optimized for power use (which is pretty good nowadays on modern laptops), but also very strong OS integration. I am not sure if non-Apple laptops will get that far, because Linux and Windows simply have to target much more hardware.

At any rate, non-Apple laptops have other benefits, like being able to get 64GiB/128GiB memory and large SSDs without breaking the bank.

In the end it's all a trade-off. If you are a sales representative that needs all-day battery life, MacBook is probably the only option. If you are a developer that needs something portable to hop between desks or on the train, but usually have access to a power socket (yay, Dutch/German trains), a few hours of battery is enough and you might prefer to get an insane amount of memory/storage, a built-in cellular modem, and an ethernet port instead.

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone (2022)

#279

Post by avereveard »

mousethatroared wrote: post #191

Larger phones have better battery life time. Screen power draw and battery capacity scale as the square of the linear dimension. They largely cancel out. However, all the other hardware are a fixed size so proportionally large phones have longer battery lives.

Also panel manufacturer will not run limited run 5.4in panel just for a niche market and if they did cost would be super high.

Like internal component can be rearranged to an extent, and battery is a tradeoff, but the panel need to be one on the market, no demand, no panel

Re: I want an iPhone Mini-sized Android phone (2022)

#280

Post by [deleted] »

ge96 wrote: post #274
deffrin wrote: post #273

If I have money and the knowledge to build a phone, surely i will make it possible one day. But I don't know why new innovative people are not getting into smartphone making. Everyone is trying to make the next big software. But why that grit is missing to bring the variety into small hardware devices that target majority? Or, is it not reaching people like me? Is it the lack of awareness?

One reason is the modem, proprietary blob I think another reason is sourcing good parts that aren't old and bulky, speaking from the Linux phones I tried Also drivers somebody has to write em I used to be annoyed that you had to choose between Android or iOS I wish android phones had lidar

[deleted]
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