As long as they don’t touch the base model, I don’t have any issue with them increasing the price of the pro. The day I can’t get a new iPhone for $800 or less is the day I find a different phone to use.
What feature does the standard 12 and 13 have that the mini models don’t? The SE makes compromises all over the keep the price down. So it’s not a straight comparison.
Well the iPhone 14 exists but the 14 mini does not. It did have similar features sans general size, battery etc, but it needs to be available to be a “base” model.
Other than that it’s just a generational one off product like the plus, SE, or XR models.