Everyone throws on a case anyway.

As a technologist and a casual photog, I’ll chime in.

The answer is optics.

Previously, phones had basically one set focal point, and everything from a certain distance to infinity would be in focus. There was no way to adjust our change it, because the optics were basically sandwiched against the sensor.

More modern phones can do some level of focus, which allows focus to be set much closer to the phone. At first, this didn’t really introduce much thickness, and phones were fairly thick in the first place (at least, compared to today)… So it was merely a matter of shifting some things around to make everything work.

Now? Between the pulls for longer battery life, with the relatively stale battery technology in use (we haven’t seen any significant uplift in battery storage density in a while, some might be coming, but they’re not here - so the only way to add battery is to install a larger one); the push for thin/light phones, and the push for better image quality in phones (4k video, bigger zoom, bigger image sizes, etc)… Everything has culminated into adding space for optics, and making everything else slimmer. The only other area where the phone is growing in size, is the screen.

Personally, I don’t understand the race to be the thinnest phone. I don’t give a shit. I don’t want to be holding a piece of paper that makes calls. Back in the day, even the very chunky handsets of landline phones were not comfortable to hold for extended periods of time, and there were attachments you could get to make them bigger, so it would be more comfortable to hold the already massive (by today’s standards) handset against your shoulder. Ever seen someone try to hold a cellphone with their shoulder? It’s not comfortable.

… I know what they will say… Bluetooth! Headsets! (Blah blah blah). Handsets existed for landlines too. Nobody bought them. IMO, the only reason people use Bluetooth for calls is because they bought the BT headset for something else (like music). BT headsets for only calls were pretty much only purchased by the same dicks that bought headset landline phones.

Anyways, I’m off topic now. While I don’t get the compulsion to make phones thin, I understand that optics need space and it’s the reason why there’s a camera bump. Companies wanted thinner phones but needed space for optics, so this was the only way to accomplish both.

I agree with you and fully support your campaign to de-bump phone cameras.

I’m still on an iPhone 12 Mini because (in addition to there not being a reasonably sized phone anymore) the camera assembly on the 13 Mini is bigger and looks like shit IMO.
Also, I have gone case-less for all go my phones going back to the OG iPhone. So don’t come at me about not noticing a bump when you have a case. I effing hate that the camera makes the phone sit cocked on the table so much that I usually put it face down.

I think it’s absolutely ridiculous what they’ve done and for barely any perceptible difference, in most cases. I could understand the ‘pro’ models having a substantially better camera(s). For normies taking snapshots of their food and their fam and scanning QR codes, there’s no need.

Frankly, any ‘pro’ wouldn’t be using their phone for professional purposes anyway. I often carry a small camera with me in addition to my phone just because even the best phone camera can’t compete with a decent camera - because physics.
Still, I respect and support anyone who wants to take pictures and make videos with their cell phone. I love that practically anyone on the planet has the ability to take their phone out of their pocket and produce a short film.

For an actual answer, physics. There’s a mathematical formula to determine how far away the lens needs to be from the sensor based on the size of the lens and the image sensor. The wider the sensor and lens are, the better the image quality and the further they need to be from each other.

I think apple does it so you can tell which model someone has and how much poorer they are than you.

They want to sell thinner phones, but the optics needs some room to be useful, so it shows. The little range they can get with keeping that much width do a lot for image quality.

…and compare it with now the difference is almost imperceptible.

Imperceptible to you.

Your argument that phones without zoom lenses had, ‘decent digital zoom and stability (for a phone)’ only serves to highlight your inability to perceive the difference having actual optical zoom makes when zooming.

Crazy how one would even make this argument without actual image examples, unless that kind of research only led to realizing one’s argument is wrong.

They’re for better lenses. A better lens is objectively better for photography. It’s not debatable.

AFAIK, it’s there because they’ve made the rest of the phone so thin, but they can’t make the camera components any thinner.

Incidentally I think the cameras are definitely better and I have plenty of old pictures and videos taken on Samsung flagship phones that agree. Maybe not better in every way, but low light pictures and videos have way less noise these days, and the resolution is higher (whether that actually results in a clearer picture depends).

I bought my last phone mostly on it having (arguably) the best camera (without buying a camera phone).

Why would I want a worse phone? If it needs a bump it needs a bump.

I wish they would just make the whole phone thicker so there wouldn’t be a bump and use the extra space for more battery.

imperceptible improvement since 2010? there’s even a decent improvement in just 2 years from my pixel 6 to the 8. mid 2010s was iPhone 6 days, and there’s been MASSIVE improvement since then

Sorry but there is zero chance the phone photos from 2010 and now look the same

Like others have pointed out, smartphone photography has improved leaps and bounds and continues to evolve. Bigger lenses enable this.

My main complaint is the off-center design, and lack of options (like a thick variant with a huge battery).

I see a huge difference in picture quality especially at night in my latest phone. And I now kind of like the bump on my pixel 8, I used to use my pinky to prevent the phone from slipping down and it got to a point where it hurts due to the phone weight. But with the pixel 8 I often use the bump with all my fingers holding the weight preventing my pinky from being torn away.

The bump is what it takes to deliver the product that most buyers want. between the stats we already want and advertising influencing what we want, the best seller ends up being the phone with the bump.

If you don’t like that, you’re looking for some kind of limited edition for a specific market or cheap version of the latest and greatest.

They do still make a few flip phones if you want to go hardcore with your approach.