I've had one of those designs for several years now, less than you think, I clean my phone once every couple months, and I have never found a bunch of grime of build up there.

Seems to me that it's a practical form factor in response to prevailing market reality. Last I checked, every single bit of market research indicated that a super majority of phone owners use cases of one variety or another. Not all of them for sure, and I ran without for a long time myself, but the overwhelming majority. So if most are going to be adding some level of thickness and mass to their devices regardless, and that will necessarily have a hole for the camera system which would just be empty wasted volume otherwise, it makes sense to strike a compromise and try to make more use of that without making it completely unusable without a case.

But cases are the major form of physical customization most people have. Cases can provide physical keyboards, battery, environmental protection, texture, and aesthetics in a variety and individual granularity that would be impossible for any OEM to handle themselves. Fundamental to cases though is that they can only ever add, never subtract. So it seems very practical to me to design a device that is as thin and light as possible within a floor level of raw performance, since that represents the base state. Then individuals who want more battery life, more extreme environmental usage and so on can add from there, but those who don't aren't saddled with it. Cameras feed into that, if anything for many heavier duty case users it'd be more optimal if they were any even bigger bump. They represent a compromise.

> Last I checked, every single bit of market research indicated that a super majority of phone owners use cases of one variety or another

Mostly because an iPhone is unusable without a case. Naked it has no grip, you'll drop it frequently. Also, the camera bump in the back absolutely needs a case.

I personally don't mind the bump because it disappears with the case so it's never bothered me.

It seems the lenses are sufficiently spaced that it’s not really an issue. Also the ridges themselves are quite slippery, and don’t tend to cling onto dust.

Never had a problem with it. At least once a day I wash my phone when I wash my hands

With the kind of water resistance that's typically available can you really "wash" the phone like under a faucet?

I’ve been regularly washing my phone since the X and never had a problem. I also don’t use a case and handle it delicately, but do have glass covers on the front and back.

Use to drop/ break my phones all the time. One day it occurred to be I almost never drop a cup/ glass, so why do I drop my phone? I think I just kind of mental classified it as I did plastic flip phones I grew up with. And once I mentally thought of it an extremely expensive gem containing a super computer, almost never drop it anymore.

In my personal uses, It's actually not too bad once put on a case.

Could have made the back flat and used the extra volume for batteries.

So... exactly what the iPhone 14 is rumored to be?

I doubt they'll make the iPhone 2 mm thicker. More likely they'll keep the current thinness but use periscope cameras to eliminate the bump.

Yeah, because a very solid battery capacity isn't "Pro"...