Apple iPhone 13 mini vs iPhone 12
64
out of 100
VS
61
out of 100
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 5.4-inch Apple iPhone 13 mini (with Apple A15 Bionic) that was released on September 14, 2021, against the Apple iPhone 12, which is powered by Apple A14 Bionic and came out 11 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 13 mini
- Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
- Delivers 31% higher peak brightness (848 against 646 nits)
- Better grip in hands – the body is 7.3 mm narrower
- The phone is 11 months newer
- Weighs 23 grams less
- 15% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 2303 and 1997 points
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 12
- Has a 0.7 inch larger screen size
Review
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
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Value for money (Beta)
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | OLED | OLED |
| Size | 5.4 inches | 6.1 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2340 pixels | 1170 x 2532 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19.5:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 476 ppi | 460 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 60 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | No | No |
| Max rated brightness | 800 nits | 625 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 1200 nits | - |
| HDR support | Yes, Dolby Vision | Yes, Dolby Vision |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 84.8% | 87.1% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 | - DCI-P3 |
| RGB color space | 99.7% | 99.4% |
| PWM | 510 Hz | 226 Hz |
| Response time | 4.8 ms | 16 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Screen space comparison
iPhone 12
6.1″ (19.5:9 ratio) = 14.2 in2
iPhone 13 mini
5.4″ (19.5:9 ratio) = 11.1 in2
~27% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 131.5 mm (5.18 inches) | 146.7 mm (5.78 inches) |
| Width | 64.2 mm (2.53 inches) | 71.5 mm (2.81 inches) |
| Thickness | 7.65 mm (0.3 inches) | 7.4 mm (0.29 inches) |
| Weight | 141 g (4.97 oz) | 164 g (5.78 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Black, Blue, Green, Red, Pink | White, Black, Blue, Green, Red |
| Fingerprint scanner | No | No |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Apple A15 Bionic | Apple A14 Bionic |
| Max clock | 3200 MHz | 3100 MHz |
| CPU cores | 6 (2 + 4) | 6 (2 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 4 cores at 2.02 GHz: Blizzard - 2 cores at 3.23 GHz: Avalanche |
- 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Icestorm - 2 cores at 3.1 GHz: Firestorm |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | TSMC |
| Lithography process | 5 nanometers | 5 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Apple Neural Engine | Apple Neural Engine |
| Graphics | Apple GPU (4 cores) | Apple GPU |
| GPU shading units | 640 | 256 |
| GPU clock | 1338 MHz | 1278 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~1712.6 GFLOPS | ~654.3 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 18055 | 17099 |
| Single-core score | 2303 | 1997 |
| Multi-core score | 5725 | 4665 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 457297 | 402035 |
| GPU | 339401 | 336490 |
| Memory | 155401 | 153915 |
| UX | 475752 | 449135 |
| Total score | 1427851 | 1341575 |
| Samples | [7 tests] | [10 tests] |
3DMark Solar Bay
| Stability | 75% | 76% |
| Graphics test | 12 FPS | 10 FPS |
| Section 1 | 16 FPS | 13 FPS |
| Section 2 | 12 FPS | 10 FPS |
| Section 3 | 9 FPS | 7 FPS |
| Graphics score | 3276 | 2651 |
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
| Stability | 68% | 74% |
| Graphics test | 14 FPS | 12 FPS |
| Graphics score | 2500 | 2155 |
Recent User Tests
Apple iPhone 13 mini
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-06-09 -> barout1 | AnTuTu | 1251126 |
| 📘 2026-05-27 (Spaik) | AnTuTu | 1507453 |
| 📘 2026-05-12 (MaximVerni) | AnTuTu | 1470778 |
| 📘 2026-04-25 (nh4t) | AnTuTu | 1304181 |
| 📘 2026-03-11 (STXZ17) | AnTuTu | 1449341 |
Apple iPhone 12
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-06-26 (Hellomt) | AnTuTu | 1334721 |
| 📘 2026-03-25 (🇷🇺010) | AnTuTu | 1384982 |
| 📘 2026-03-23 (Roma) | AnTuTu | 1326030 |
| 📘 2026-03-06 (RuL) | AnTuTu | 1365684 |
| 📘 2026-02-16 (hypothetic nuisance) | AnTuTu | 1341575 |
Memory
| RAM size | 4 GB | 4 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR4X | LPDDR4X |
| Memory clock | 2133 MHz | - |
| Channels | 2 | 2 |
| Storage size | 128 GB | 64 GB |
| Storage type | NVMe | NVMe |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | iOS 15 (Can be upgraded to iOS 26.5) | iOS 14.1 (Can be upgraded to iOS 26.5) |
| OS size | 12 GB | 7 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 2406 mAh | 2815 mAh |
| Max charge power | 20 W | 18 W |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (7.5 W) | Yes (7.5 W) |
| Reverse charging | No | No |
| Bypass charging | No | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (61% in 30 min) | Yes (58% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:24 hr | 1:30 hr |
| Web browsing | 07:46 hr | 08:00 hr |
| Watching video | 12:00 hr | 12:09 hr |
| Gaming | 04:28 hr | 04:35 hr |
| Standby | 106 hr | 112 hr |
General battery life
Main camera
| Matrix | 12 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4032 x 3024 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Zoom | Digital | Digital |
| Flash | Dual LED | Quad LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | No | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 240 FPS (1080p) | 240 FPS (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 120° | 120° |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 12 MP 2) Ultrawide: 12 MP |
1) Standard: 12 MP 2) Ultrawide: 12 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
| Image resolution | 12 MP | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.6 | f/1.6 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 26 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX603 | Sony IMX372 |
| Sensor size | 1/1.9" (≈ 0.53 inch) | 1/3.4" (≈ 0.29 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.7 micron | 1.4 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | 12 MP | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.4 | f/2.4 |
| Focal length | 13 mm | 13 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX372 | - |
| Sensor size | 1/3.4" (≈ 0.29 inch) | 1/3.6" (≈ 0.28 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.4 micron | - |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
DxOMark main camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
| Bokeh | 65 | 55 |
| Preview | 76 | 74 |
| Zoom | 65 | 60 |
| Samples | Photo samples of Apple iPhone 13 mini from DxOMark | Photo samples of Apple iPhone 12 from DxOMark |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 12 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4032 x 3024 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 23 mm | 23 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX514 | Sony IMX514 |
| Sensor size | 1/3.6" (≈ 0.28 inch) | 1/3.6" (≈ 0.28 inch) |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) | No |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Video resolution | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | Yes | Yes |
DxOMark front camera
| Photo | 127 | 127 |
| Video | 143 | 140 |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) |
| Wi-Fi features | - Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
- Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 5 | 5 |
| Bluetooth features | LE, A2DP | LE, A2DP |
| USB type | - | No |
| USB version | 2 | - |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | 1 | 1 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| eSIM support* | Yes | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat* | 18 | 18 |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | September 2021 | October 2020 |
| Release date | September 2021 | October 2020 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $700 | $800 |
| Successor | - | - Apple iPhone 17 |
| SAR (head) | 0.97 W/kg | 0.99 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | 0.98 W/kg | 0.99 W/kg |
| Sensors | - Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Face recognition sensor |
- Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Face recognition sensor |
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
These smartphones have a lot in common, but we would recommend the Apple iPhone 13 mini. It has a better camera, performance, and gaming.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 1314