For years every years flagship phone camera comparison reviews have varied largely by reviewer preference over whose post processing they prefer, which they often even note. Favourites varying from brand to brand year to year. For photos.

I have never seen anyone suggest that another phone camera touches the iPhone in terms of video quality. In fact in these days of casual user content creation, this wave you say apple missed, video remains a minor element of camera write ups and I can’t help but think it’s because “if you care about shooting video with your phone at all and have the money, get an iPhone” is all that can be said on the matter.

Phone camera tech isn’t stagnant. It’s one of the(just the?) most important factors people value in their phones. Apple is making an intentional choice to prioritise video quality. I hardly think that’s them missing user generated content. They’re just cashing in at the device purchase level rather than diving in to the algorithm driven ad feed engagement game.