The great state of Ohio aside, it looks like the iPhone mini is going away this fall, with phone sizes matching across the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro lines:
6.1" iPhone 14
6.7" iPhone 14 Max
6.1" iPhone 14 Pro
6.7" iPhone 14 Pro Max.
Which, in my mind, then leaves that smaller 5.4" from the "failed" iPhone mini to serve as the platform for a nice, fourth-generation SE redesign in 2023-2024.
Makes sense to me. The cheaper phone, in the minds of many, should be smaller (even if that's exactly what many of us prefer). Leave the 6.1"+ biggies for the flagship $699+ models. The iPhone mini - 5.4" + premium pricing - probably didn't stand an honest chance. That smaller size should've never been inserted into the $700+ flagship lineup, IMO. It was always better suited for the ~$400 SE line, in some future update.
I'm betting that's exactly what happens in the next 18 or so months. The full-face, no-home-button iPhone design
will make its way down, finally, to the SE tier. It'll just be properly "de-premiumed" (non-OLED display, single camera, fewer color options, not the latest, cutting-edge cellular radio, etc.) to fall in line with SE specs/pricing.
There is precedent. The 5s (once a "flagship") became the basis for the first SE. The iPhone 8 (once a "flagship") became the basis for the current SE design. Seems like a no-brainer that the iPhone 12-13 mini will be reborn as a redesigned, fourth-generation SE in another year or two.
Smaller = cheaper
Larger = premium
Right or wrong, that's just what people - and companies - seem to believe/expect. Tough to ask people to pay $699+ for the smallest phone in the lineup. People think they should get "more" for that kind of money...screen size, battery life, faster this, better that, etc. Bad idea from the get-go, IMO. Some things in life you do pay a premium for the smaller version. I just don't think an iPhone is one of them.
If iPhones - like everything else - are just going to keep slowly increasing in price as time goes on, then the smaller design should always be for the SE line, where it kinda makes sense. Eventually, I fear, iPhones are going to
start at $799...and the SE will probably find its way to $499 if a few months ago is anything to go by (I wasn't expecting that $30 bump). I can easily see Apple using the full-screen, 4.7"->5.4" jump to justify a $479-499 starting price on a fourth-generation SE.
I hope I didn't say that too loud...
But that would still be quite a phone for pretty much anyone!