exactly. the media and apple keep saying the "people don't want a small phone".
People don't want a gimped small phone.
if the iPhone 12 mini and 13 mini came with high refresh display and 1TB I'd still be using them. I had to get the 15 pro to get the 1TB and nice screen. I don't want a larger phone but the pro is the smallest I can get with the specs I want.
To be fair, the mini was pretty much identical to the regular iPhone, but it still sold a lot, lot less than that one, unfortunately.
Certainly, there would be buyers of a Pro mini phone, including you and me, but what makes you think that it would have a higher share in the Pro segment than the regular mini had in the base segment? (And that's besides the fact that more features also take more space, shrinking the battery even further.)
It would also lose buyers who don't want to pay Pro prices, so my guess is that sales would be about the same.
I mourn the mini, but I don't doubt the market realities. People want stupid*-sized phones just like they want stupid-sized vehicles.
* No offense intended. People are allowed to like what they like. It's just frustrating to be an outlier.