There are QTY156 different iPhone 12 mini configurations (e.g. MG7G3LL/A, MG773LL/A, etc). These variations indicate color, flash memory, etc. However, I'm referring to the actual model differences, which do have major hardware differences. For example:
iPhone 12 mini (A2176) is sold exclusively in the USA and is the only model to support mmWave (a big difference), whereas;
iPhone 12 mini (A2398) is sold exclusively in Canada and Japan, whereas;
iPhone 12 mini (2399) is sold in most other countries, and has dual nanoSIM cards (a big difference), whereas;
iPhone 12 mini (A2400) is sold in China and has several encryption/security features disabled.

These four different models have bigger differences than whether or not the phone has the physical connector installed. The point is that Apple already has region specific phones.