I've literally never contemplated the weight of my phone, if I'm honest.
The screen size sure, but never the weight.
I’m not sure if it’s people don’t care or don’t have much of an option, especially if they lock into an ecosystem. There’s just a lot more choice on Android devices and the various trade offs.
But they have options. The mini, SE, old smaller phones.
There are options, but they’re much more limited. As a bit of anecdata my wife was coming from a pretty old phone. She views it as getting something more cutting edge so she can keep this one as long as her last one and didn’t think that starting with older hardware would get her there. That view limits the options to only a few.
Seems to, especially for US people. Maybe other manufacturers just jump on the same bandwagon as Apple.
they care but the other way round: if the device is made out of lightweight and stable high-tech plastic, they complain it feels and locks cheap, and they hate that, regardless if the plastic would be superior to metal, glass or ceramic in almost any way. As always, the mainstream is much more guided by their emotions and sense of status than rationality.