Also, Apple's own USB-C equipped iPads are slimmer than any of their phones.

Besides, what's the point of a thinner phone when you got a huge bump for the camera's. Rather it be a bit thicker so that there is more room for battery.

I personally really wish for a flag ship phone like the Galaxy S21 Ultra that doesn't have such a huge camera array.

IMHO, the camera bumps are also just ugly. That is mitigated by protective cases, but still thicker phones would be more robust and have place for larger batteries. That being said, modern day phones all look the same anyway, once they are in a non-transparent case.

The bump looks so bad haha. I've never found anyone that agrees

Yeah I'd much prefer a phone that's what, 1mm thicker? Maybe 2 at a push

I use a case solely so the phone lies flat on the table. They should arrange the battery to be thick enough to be the same height as the lens array.

That and the more fragile the device, the bigger the case you (should) have anyway.

I’m always amused at people who upgrade to the latest phone regularly and then keep it in a bulky case. Around iPhone 5, I switched to buying 1-year old used phones about every 2-3 years and enjoying them without a case.

Only non-minor damage I’ve suffered is I broke the volume down button (the spring behind it, really) on my Xs Max. Minor scratches I don’t care about. I’m pretty amazed at how durable the phones actually are and, if I break one now, it’s probably an $85 screen and an hour of my time or worst case a $400-600 replacement phone.

Cases are overrated. Sure, they may protect from some scratches, but they don't protect agains fall as much as people think, and I think they induce falls by making large phones even more difficult to hold. I bought a IPhone 12 pro max six months ago, never used a case, still looks like new.

I used a cheap silicone case because of the glass (iPhone 8). Without it, the phone just slide on almost anything.