iPhone 13 mini again tipped to be last small flagship iPhone, says report

A new report again says the iPhone 13 mini will be the last such 'mini' iPhone, and that in 2022 the iPhone 14 will herald the release of a second 6.7-inch 'Max' iPhone.

The news comes from a sweeping Nikkei Asia report regarding Apple's future plans, which indicates that, as per multiple previous reports, Apple's iPhone 12 mini sales "have disappointed", with the company drastically reducing orders for the device this year. Apple is reportedly also pre-empting weaker demand for the iPhone 13 mini as a result. From the report:

Sales of the iPhone 12 Mini, by contrast, have disappointed. Apple introduced the 5.4-inch model last year but slashed production orders for the first half of 2021 after demand was lower than expected. The company has also scaled back production plans for this year's Mini model compared with last year, sources said.

A source told Nikkei Asia that "it is pretty much decided that there won't be a Mini next year". As per previous reports, it is also claimed that Apple is planning to instead adopt a second 'Max' iPhone. The 6.7-inch phone would be a more cost-effective large iPhone with the same form factor as the iPhone 12 Pro Max but with fewer premium features.

This report echoes almost verbatim as a report from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo from April, as reported by iMore:

According to a new research note seen by iMore, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicts that Apple plans to ditch the small 5.4-inch iPhone in favor of two 6.1-inch models, alongside two larger 6.7-inch models, with a 'Pro' version of each next year.

In his latest research note Kuo writes:

We predict that the new 2H22 iPhone will have 4 models, namely the high-end 6.7-inch and 6.1-inch models, and the lower-end 6.7-inch and 6.1-inch models.

Nikkei also reports that Apple is planning to release a new 2022 iPhone SE next year with 5G and a new A15 processor.