The camera bump on bump on bump design is really disappointing to see. There must have been a better way to deal with this surely? I can only imagine all the dust and grime build-up in all those ridges, especially in between the three cameras.
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.
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.
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.