Reasons why I dislike my new iPhone 13 mini

And why Apple is NOT the company it used to be.

First of all, let me tell you where I'm coming from. My old phone was an iPhone SE, generation 1 from 2017. I could no longer make calls when 3-g cel service was shut down so had to get a new one. That old phone was light and small, came with a headphone jack and home button. AND a camera that didn't protrude from the body. A few tech specs are listed below:

iPhone SE	iPhone 13 Mini
4.9 inches tall by 2.3 inches wide and only .3 inches thick. 4 oz. 64 gb storage Running ios 10	5.2 inches tall by 2.5 inches wide and .39 inches thick (nearly a half inch!) 5 oz. 128 gb storage running ios 15

Size

I liked my old phone because of its size. In fact, if they'd make a smaller phone, I'd be even happier. The first cel phone I had was a tracfone That was just about the perfect size to unobtrusively fit in my pocket. So, looking at the specifications above, you can see the new phone is bigger.

Not such a big deal, you say. But the difference in size and screen size makes it more difficult to reach everything on the new phone with one hand. I used to be able to do reach all parts of the screen with one hand. Now it's difficult.
I move pretty fast (as anyone who walks with me can attest) and a heavy weight in my pocket really bangs around. The old phone felt better in my pockets than this new heavier block of junk.

Camera

Apple has "improved" the camera they say. The 13 camera sticks out so if my phone is on the table and I try texting, it is constantly wobbling. The old SE didn't have that problem because the camera was made as it should be. There's no way Steve Jobs would have allowed a camera to protrude from the phone like they do on all iphones now. Poor design.

Also, there's something to be said for a little blur. Compare the image of my iphone 13 case drawing below. The first was taken with the new 13's camera on a sunny day. It's just too detailed. No one needs to see every grain of graphite. The second was taken with a normal camera on a cloudy day. (Click the images to bring up larger versions.)

Computer Sync

My computer is running an old OS with an old version of iTunes that doesn't sync with the new phone. Updating the computer will make Photoshop and Illustrator inoperable so updating is not an option. After wasting hours of time trying to find a solution, I still don't have my music on the new phone. Frustrating!!! So let's make a phone use the same file system as a computer where we can transfer things from one to another wirelessly or by USB regardless of the OS version or age of the computer/phone.

Home Button/power button

The old phone had a home button that read my finger print to open the phone. I'd grab the phone with my thumb on the home button and index finger on the back. By the time I got it up to eye level it was open and ready to go. IF the fingerprint reader didn't work I'd type in my 4-digit passcode.

The new phone has "face id" which I shut off because I hate having my camera on when I don't know it's on. So now to get my phone working I need to press my power button on the side of the stupid thing, swipe up, and type in my passcode. Not to mention that the power button is on the side, making it inconvenient to press.

And why do I need to press two buttons to shut the dumb thing off? Press and hold the power button on my old one and it'll shut off. This one I need to press the power button AND a volume button.

Headphone Jack

I'm not stuck in the past (well, actually I might be), but my auxiliary devices are. My speakers and headphones connect through the (what used to be) ubiquitous 1/8 inch minijack. The new phone doesn't have one of those so I can't connect it to my school speakers, the speakers by my bed, the speakers on my desk or my little headphones without an extra "dongle" cord that I'd have to bring with me or buy separate for each of the aforementioned devices.

Use bluetooth speakers and headphones you say. Well, if my wireless beats headphones are any indication, that's not a good solution. They work fine with my computer and old phone but guess what... They have to be "paired" to my new phone every time I use them AND the music cuts out for a split second periodically. --Yeah, love that new phone of mine.

Dollars

Let's also talk about "inflation". My old phone cost me $400. My new one was $800. Did it give me an upgrade worth $400? If you're read the rest of this, you know the answer. A resounding and unequivocal NO!

App closure

Remember when it was easy to close apps? Double click the home button and swipe them away. Now I have to slide my finger from the bottom of the screen to the top. Takes at least 3 tries to get it to work. Nice move, Apple!

---