Small phone fans — all 36 of us — experienced a major loss this week. The iPhone Mini is officially gone, taking with it the legacy of a truly small flagship smartphone. But it’s not all bad news. The 6.1-inch flagship phone seems to be here to stay, and sure, it’s no Mini, but it’s proving itself to be an entirely acceptable middle ground between tiny and gigantic.
The departure of the iPhone Mini was a drawn-out affair that started last year. Apple announced the iPhone 14 series with no successor to the 13 Mini. But the Mini stuck around through most of 2023 with the rest of the 13 series, and it was available new from Apple right up until Tuesday’s iPhone 15 announcement. Without a Mini in the 15 series — no surprise there — and the…