In fact, the iPhone takes a photo with a large depth of field (because of the small sensor, it can’t do anything else). Adjusting the focus is then a software blur of information based on the depth map that is also recorded (and will be partly determined via AI). Although it’s probably better than the first portrait mode, I still think it looks unnatural (on the iPhone 14). I don’t expect the iPhone 15 to set new standards here. The blur caused by a large aperture is very difficult to recreate, because your depth map actually has the same resolution (and should be accurate) as the sensor. This is not possible under the current technological situation.

The medium wide angle lens on the camera distorts like crazy. This is then corrected using software, but it often causes a lot of blurring in the corners. As for telephoto, it was also limited to around 75mm (in 35mm format) and you can of course easily go beyond that with a good telephoto lens (with much better optical performance).

You have to crop everything longer than 75mm, so it becomes very difficult with a phone camera. With plenty of light (during the day), you can often take a reasonable photo, but the quality lags behind a DSLR in terms of sharpness and contrast in particular. Although you’ll always shoot in raw format with a full-frame camera, you’ll never do so with a phone. Post-processing is no longer really under your control. With my full frame, I have more consistent colors.

I don’t share your claim that you can take 99.9% of photos with your phone. Unless you count every shot (like a photo of your parking ticket or something). To get more beautiful holiday photos, you really have to compromise on quality. I bought a Sony RX-100 IV a few years ago and use it rarely. It has almost the complexity of an SLR, but has a lot of overlap with a phone in terms of range. It’s also somewhat better in terms of optics, but the difference is too small to justify the price.

But if you are satisfied with your phone’s camera, you should continue using it. I understand very well that not everyone wants to carry a large bag weighing 8 kg. In addition, the automatic image processing in phones is often a little more dynamic than that of a regular camera, and many people like it. I’d like the computing power of an iPhone in my Canon R6 too. That would be a golden combination. Good optics, a light-sensitive sensor, and first-class image processing. Now I do everything myself in Lightroom.