I actually don't recall any popular opinions that there wouldn't be a 13 mini. Info I had seen over the whole span of the 12 indicated that the 13 mini was too far along to kill, and the 14 was going to get canned.

No, "they" didn't. An iPhone 13 mini was rumored ten days before the iPhone 12 was revealed [1] (see also in that same rumor the 2022 SE 3 launch). There were rumors through out following year that Apple was still going to have 13 mini even with poor sales of the 12 mini [2].

The same people are saying that the mini is toast for the iPhone 14. It's gone. Maybe Tim Cook will do his Tim Cook thing and reuse the mini form factor as the next SE for the next half decade, but I wouldn't bet on it.

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[1] https://www.macrumors.com/2020/10/02/iphone-13-lineup-rumore...

[2] https://www.macrumors.com/2021/02/15/iphone-13-mini-expected...