Why?
One can argue that the Mac Pro is important because there are people who use it to develop for the rest of the Apple ecosystem. So there is strategic value in supporting that 1% of Mac Pro users so they can in term benefit the other 99% of Apple users.
What’s the value add of the iPhone mini to other Apple users?
Because it completes the iPhone lineup, which is arguably Apple's most important product line right now. There are regular models, pro models and phone-sized-phone models.
My comparison to the Mac Pro isn't meant to be a detail-for-detail match, but to make a point. Apple needs the Mac Pro to round-out the Mac lineup as well (even if it is a tiny fraction of sales share). It is important because it fits the workflow of an important segment of their user-base, just like the iPhone mini does in the phone lineup.
The value-add are a bunch of things, but I can summarize it into being a form-factor an important segment of Apple customers want to fit their preferences and workflow (and, as you witness around here, quite adamantly and vocally).
I almost always have other screens around me. I want comfort of use over screen real-estate. I don't use my phone for anything for which the bigger screen is much of an advantage. (Ok, I once tried Minecraft on it, just to see how it performs... but I use my iPad and desktop for that.) I'd have been happier, if they'd stuck with the original SE form-factor (my previous phone). I went with the mini to 'vote with my dollars' in part, and also because my son needed a phone. It is pushing the form-factor to the edge, in fact I'd say over the edge. It isn't nearly as comfortable to use as the SE was.
Apple can always replace the mini with another iPhone 5G in the $699 slot. That seems to be what they're doing in 2022 when component prices are lower: offer two mainstream and two premium options with 6.1" and 6.7".
The $699 slot really serves as a price gateway to iPhone 5G rather than a size preference. On the other hand, the Mac Pro is needed to create heavy content for the entire Apple ecosystem.
The iPhone mini isn't about price, especially now (that argument could have been made - and was! - about the original SE). The new SE exists for that market, and is a better fit. Most bargain-hunters want the bigger screen, as they are more likely to use the phone more exclusively.
Most people say that they don't want a small phone. I say go even smaller Apple. The 12 mini is not mini at all.
Yeah, same here. I was a bit disappointed it is bigger than my original SE was. I like it, but it clearly isn't as ergonomic as the SE was. They probably are pushing the boundary so much, that many just go, 'ah, what the heck, I'll just go slightly bigger to the iPhone 12'. Those millimeters really do make a big difference though. (My wife has an iPhone 7, and I wouldn't go that big... if that - or bigger - becomes the only option, I won't be an iPhone user anymore.)
The iPhone 12 mini is also fighting against other 1% sellers like Galaxy A31 and Redmi 9. Those are mid-2020 4G devices using Mediatek processors or LCD panels. Given the effort and Apple's dominance, I would call that a failure. That's like bringing a gun to a knife fight and barely staying alive.
I guess, if your 'success metric' is outselling everything else. There's also the metric of making an important segment of your user-base happy, too.
It's kind of like all the car makers rushing to make every model an SUV/crossover. Sorry, never going to own one of them. I'll walk/bike first. There are also a lot of car-buyers who still want sedans, sport cars, pickup trucks, etc. One 'size' doesn't fit all.
That's a super strong statement.
Not sure how it's "essential"---it's been a non-product for, I don't know, more than a decade, and Apple has never seemed to have trouble selling iPhones.
Yes, I realize that. And, I feel that strongly about it.
As for essential... I guess that depends. There's always just not buying an iPhone. Is that essential enough?