Major manufacturers, Apple included, keep making phones bigger; it's frustrating. However, I think it's a bit unfair to say that, for instance, the Pixel A-series (which I've used for years) is "phablet sized".
The current flagship iPhones are 6.7" (iPhone 15 Pro Max, $1199) and 6.1" (iPhone 15 Pro, $999). The current flagship Pixel phones are 6.3" (Pixel 7, $599) and 6.1" (Pixel 7a, $499).
> Android phones are basically ad consumption devices
It's possible that this is a fair criticism of some Android devices, but with YouTube Vanced/ReVanced and Firefox with AdBlock Plus, I haven't seen an obtrusive ad on my phone in years.
There are many things iPhones do better than Android devices, but these two criticisms are basically nonsense.
Edit: Apple also has a very small phone in the iPhone SE, but they're not continuing to produce those (per latest reports, anyway) so it doesn't strike me as a fair comparison. If we include older generations of products, there are tons of small Android phones.