Apple’s killing off the iPhone mini with the iPhone 14 series, reports suggest

Apple is set to launch the iPhone 14 series later this year. Now, there has been a lot of discussions and speculations that have suggested that Apple might drop the iPhone mini from the new lineup this year. And if a new report is anything to go by, it is possibly going to happen.

CAD-based renders of the iPhone 14 series have been floating around the Internet for a while now and it appears that the designs on those are close enough to start the production of metal molds. These metal molds are used to make cases for the new, upcoming iPhones. Photos of these molds have started showing up on Weibo and they suggest that Apple is going to reduce the size options for the devices from three to two.

A photo of the molds seen on Weibo, as seen from the labels, show two 6.1-inch devices and two 6.7-inch devices. So, this means that the iPhone mini has been dropped and Apple is, in all probabilities, going to introduce a non-Pro Max version of the iPhone 14. As Apple has been doing for a while now, only the Pro models feature three cameras on the back with the third being a telephoto module.

Reports also suggest that the iPhone 14 devices will not get periscope cameras but is going to feature an upgraded main camera with a 48MP sensor. As reports suggest, “this should enable 8K video recording and better digital zoom”. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is of the opinion that only the Pro models will get the new sensor.

The camera bump on the iPhone 14 Pro models is also expected to be bigger and thicker than what we’ve seen on the iPhone 13 Pro models to accommodate upgraded camera hardware. Apple might keep the camera hardware on the non-Pro models unchanged this year.

Reports have also suggested that Apple might use last year’s A15 chip on the on-Pro models and use the new A16 only for the Pro devices. The new chip should add the extra processing power needed for 8K videos.

However, the biggest change that’s coming in with this year’s iPhone 14 devices is on the front, and not the back. With the iPhone 14 Pro devices, Apple is reportedly planning to drop the notch and replace it with a dual punch hole design. The iPhone 14 and the iPhone 14 Max will probably still have the notch but might get a 120Hz refresh rate as an upgrade.

Also Read: iPhone 14 expected to come with satellite connectivity

Also Read: iPhone 14 Pro models likely to be priced much higher than expected