A new investor note from JPMorgan Chase seen by AppleInsider and MacRumors claims that Apple’s high-end iPhone models will soon use titanium alongside or instead of aluminum or stainless steel. It also provides new insights about what to expect from 2022’s iPhone lineup.

Drawing from supply line sources, the note says the materials change is coming in 2022 and that Foxconn will be Apple’s exclusive supplier for the titanium components. The Pro model phones from that year are likely to use a titanium alloy, which is stronger and more resistant to scratches than the stainless steel used in current iPhone models.

While the analyst report does not specify, it’s very likely that we’re talking about the chassis and the metallic band around the edge of the iPhone, not the front and the back. The front is expected to still be glass, and given that Apple continues to introduce new MagSafe and wireless charging products and features, we expect the back to remain glass as well.

The report also says the iPhone 14 will see more significant changes than the iPhone 13, suggesting that this year’s new iPhones will be spec bumps with minor new features akin to past iPhone launches with an “-S” appended to the products’ names. Meanwhile, the iPhone 14 in 2022 will bring with it a redesign of sorts and major new features, akin to the iPhone X or iPhone 12.

Additionally, JPMorgan Chase corroborates another recent report that Apple will not produce an iPhone 14 mini. That report, from Nikkei Asia, claimed that Apple will sometime in 2022 introduce a 5G iPhone SE with the latest, fastest CPU and the same look and feel as the current iPhone SE—but that this will be a death knell for the iPhone mini, which was introduced as part of the iPhone 12 lineup in 2020 but which has failed to meet sales expectations.

Currently, Apple offers two options for users of small, one-handed phones. There’s the iPhone SE, which emphasizes low cost by using older technologies like an LCD display and the home button. And there’s the iPhone 12 mini, which places the latest chip, screen, and camera tech Apple has to offer in a smaller chassis at a price close to that of the other flagships.

Based on the insights from Nikkei and JPMorgan Chase, it appears that Apple will soon relegate small phones to the budget bin (or midrange bin, you could really argue), with the most expensive flagships with the latest features staying big.

https://arstechnica.com/?p=1783057