What I'm saying for sure won't happen and is impossible:
iPhone 13 Mini is released with better battery life and sells well
and
iPhone 14 Mini doesn't get released after a year of great sales of the improved 13 Mini, it doesn't matter it's still D/Ced.
That cannot happen. It doesn't make sense. I don't care about planning. You have to live in the moment.
I think it is quite possible that there will be a 13 Mini this year due to "inertia" (contractual obligations to parts suppliers etc.), yet at the same time there are today no plans for a 14 Mini in 2022.
If the 13 Mini sells unexpectedly well, Apple would still have options in 2022, despite being unprepared to release a fully fledged 14 Mini:
- They could just keep making and selling the 13 Mini as is.
- They might be able to make a simple "SE Mini" or similar, basically a 13 Mini with a 2022 generation CPU (A16?) and no other hardware upgrades.
Given that the previous SEs were released in spring, outside the regular cycle, Apple could even combine the two options to buy some time for preparations: keep selling the 13 Mini into early 2023, and then release an SE Mini in spring 2023.
An alternative would be to take the Mini out of the regular generation loop right away: No names are set in stone yet, so the rumored 13 Mini could be released this autumn as "iPhone SE Mini" or maybe just "iPhone Mini" or whatever. That would immediately remove public expectations for an annual upgrade cycle, and in 2022 and onwards Apple could just keep making and selling that phone as needed. There would be little cries for an upgrade in sync with the other iPhones, as people would understand that the Mini is its own thing.