I lament this as well. I wish I could get something shaped like an iPhone 4 again.
While I was initially excited about the release of the iPhone mini, I ended up not buying one because I had bad experiences in the past using apps that were clearly never tested on the smaller screen sizes, and I couldn't trust that it wouldn't happen again.
Add to that the fact that I can't stand iOS. I currently use a Pixel 4a because that was literally the smallest Android phone money could buy at the time, and one that still had a headphone jack.
While I was initially excited about the release of the iPhone mini, I ended up not buying one because I had bad experiences in the past using apps that were clearly never tested on the smaller screen sizes, and I couldn't trust that it wouldn't happen again.