by Hartley Charlton
The third-generation iPhone SE and the iPhone 13 mini are Apple's smallest iPhone options, starting at $429 and $599 respectively. Apple released the iPhone 13 mini in late 2021, and has bumped it down in price since then to make it more accessible as new iPhone models have been released. On the other hand, the third-generation iPhone SE launched in early 2022, refreshing the most affordable iPhone option in the lineup.
With just $170 between them, should you get the new, smaller, entry-level iPhone or the slightly older, all-screen model that has come down in price? Our guide helps to answer the question of how to decide which of these two iPhones is best for you.
Differences
| iPhone SE (third-generation) | iPhone 13 mini |
|---|---|
| Glass front and back | Ceramic Shield front and glass back |
| 4.7-inch Retina HD LCD display | 5.4-inch Super Retina XDR OLED display |
| 625 nits max brightness (typical) | 800 nits max brightness (typical) and 1,200 nits peak brightness (HDR) |
| 1400:1 contrast ratio (typical) | 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio (typical) |
| Home Button with Touch ID | Face ID |
| 15-hour battery life (during video playback) | 17-hour battery life (during video playback) |
| Single rear camera (ƒ/1.8 Main) | Dual rear cameras with 2x optical zoom range (ƒ/1.6 Main and ƒ/2.4 Ultra Wide) |
| Optical image stabilization for video | Sensor-shift optical image stabilization for video |
| – | Night mode |
| – | Cinematic mode for recording videos with shallow depth of field (1080p at 30 fps) |
| – | HDR video recording with Dolby Vision up to 4K at 30 fps |
| – | Audio zoom |
| Front-facing 7MP FaceTime HD camera with 1080p HD video recording and Smart HDR 4 | Front-facing 12MP TrueDepth camera with 4K video recording, Smart HDR 4, slo-mo video support, Animoji, and Memoji |
| Rated IP67 water-resistant to a depth of one meter for up to 30 minutes | Rated IP68 water-resistant to a depth of six meters for up to 30 minutes |
| – | U1 Ultra Wideband chip for spatial awareness |
| – | Supports Dolby Atmos audio playback |
| – | Compatible with MagSafe cases, wallets, wireless chargers, and more |
| Available with 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB storage | Available with 128GB, 256GB, 256GB storage |
| Midnight, Starlight, and PRODUCT(RED) color options | Green, Pink, Blue, Mighnight, Starlight, and PRODUCT(RED) color options |
| $429 | $599 |
Overall, the iPhone SE is an excellent entry-level iPhone option for just $429. Some users may even value the more traditional design, Home Button, and size of the iPhone SE compared to the iPhone 13 mini.
For $170 more, the iPhone 13 mini offers a more modern design and a brighter, OLED display, as well as Face ID, an Ultra Wide camera, Cinematic mode, Night mode, considerably better front-facing and Main cameras, MagSafe, and longer battery life. There is also the benefit of improved water resistance, the U1 chip, and Dolby Atmos audio playback, and even additional color options to choose from. All of this makes for a significant upgrade over the iPhone SE if you value these features and can afford the $170 extra, but it is worth bearing in mind that they are not essential capabilities for many users.
Overall, it comes down to whether you value having a smaller, newer device, or can look past this to get the benefits of a device with Face ID and a larger, OLED display. If you prefer the iPhone 13 mini's set of features, then it is still a good option for $599, but generally most users looking for an affordable iPhone should opt for the iPhone SE.
Related Roundups: iPhone SE, iPhone 13
Buyer's Guide: iPhone SE (Caution)
Related Forum: iPhone
3 comments
Top Rated Comments
classiciphone
10 months ago
> Some users may even value the more traditional design, Home Button, and size of the iPhone SE compared to the iPhone 13 mini.
If you put them side by side, the iPhone SE is actually BIGGER than the 13 Mini. It’s easy to look at the specs and think that the SE is smaller because it has a smaller display, but this would be wrong. So those who care about smaller size should actually go for the Mini.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Zorori
10 months ago
For $170 more, the iPhone 13 mini offers a more modern design and a brighter, OLED display, as well as Face ID, an Ultra Wide camera, Cinematic mode, Night mode, considerably better front-facing and Main cameras, MagSafe, and longer battery life. There is also the benefit of improved water resistance, the U1 chip, and Dolby Atmos audio playback, and even additional color options to choose from. All of this makes for a significant upgrade over the iPhone SE if you value these features and can afford the $170 extra, but it is worth bearing in mind that they are not essential capabilities for many users.
Interesting that once the Mini has better battery life it’s not important for users.
The whole article might as well be a link to https://www.apple.com/iphone/compare
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments
Popular Stories
Apple's iPhone 15 Event Expected September 12 or 13, Launch on September 22
Sunday August 6, 2023 6:35 am PDT by Eric Slivka
Apple's annual iPhone event is expected to take place on either Tuesday, September 12, or Wednesday, September 13, this year, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman in the latest edition of his Power On newsletter. With Apple's usual timing, pre-orders for the new iPhones would go live a few days later on Friday, September 15, and a launch would come one week later on September 22. Apple...
Read Full Article • 271 comments
iPhone 15 Pro Models to Come With 2TB Storage Option, Claims Rumor
Monday August 7, 2023 3:59 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple's iPhone 15 Pro models will be available with a new 2TB maximum storage option, claims a new rumor coming out of China. According to news aggregator account "yeux1122" on the Korean Naver blog, a supplier source has confirmed that the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max will be available with double the maximum storage capacity as the iPhone 14 Pro models. In addition, MacRumors...
Read Full Article • 150 comments
Images of Alleged iPhone 15 USB-C Connector Parts Leak Online
Tuesday August 8, 2023 2:13 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Alleged images of iPhone 15 USB-C connector ports have today been leaked online, in yet another indication that Apple is this year preparing to make the switch from Lightning to the USB-C charging standard. The consolidated images below, shared by leakers @lipilipsi and @John011235 on X (formerly Twitter), purportedly show the USB-C connector ports attached to the flexible PCB component...
Read Full Article • 250 comments
Top Stories: New Apple Watch Ultra, AirTag, and iPad Rumors
Saturday August 5, 2023 6:00 am PDT by MacRumors Staff
We're just about a month away from the introduction of the iPhone 15 lineup, but it's far from the only product in Apple's pipeline as this week saw fresh rumors about the next-generation Apple Watch models, AirTag, iPads, and more. We also took a glance at some iOS 17 features you might have missed while we look ahead to what we might see with fourth-generation AirPods, so read on for all...
Read Full Article • 8 comments
10 Hidden Easter Eggs in macOS
Monday August 7, 2023 10:58 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
In computing lore, an Easter egg typically refers to a secret message, image, or feature intentionally left in software, often (but not always) hidden in plain sight. Since the 1970s, programmers have used them to credit unheralded developers, reference pop culture, sneak games into productivity apps, and generally inject a little bit of humanity into their code. Subscribe to the MacRumors ...
Read Full Article • 70 comments
Apple Testing M3 Max Chip With 16-Core CPU and 40-Core GPU
Monday August 7, 2023 3:01 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple is testing the next-generation M3 Max chip, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. The Apple silicon chip will be a replacement for the M2 Max, and it is set to be used in new MacBook Pro models next year. Signs of the chip were found by a third-party Mac developer in test logs, and it appears to feature a 40-core GPU and a 16-core CPU with 12 high performance cores and four efficiency...
Read Full Article • 275 comments
