For this reason, many news and broadcasting media outlets still use prerendering services. I speak from experience as I worked in a large Canadian media company.

Another important factor to consider is that the SEO world isn't limited to Google. Various bots, including those from other search engines and platforms like Facebook, require correctly rendered pages for optimal sharing and visibility.

Lastly, the choice between client-side rendering (CSR) and server-side rendering (SSR) depends on your specific needs. Google Search Console provides valuable metrics and information about your app, so it might be worth considering SSR if that better aligns with your requirements.

With respect to JavaScript apps (React, Angular, etc.):

It's not clear these days because the major search engines don't explicitly clarify whether they parse JavaScript apps (or if they only parse high-ranking JS apps/sites. But 10 years ago it was a must-have to be indexed.

One theory on pre-rendering is it reduces cost for the crawlers since they don't need to spend 1-3s of CPU time pre-rendering your site. And by reducing costs, it may increase chances of being indexed or higher rank.

My hunch is that long-term, pre-rendering is not necessary for getting indexed. But it is typically still necessary for URL unfurls (link previews) for various social media and chat apps.

disclosure: I operate https://headless-render-api.com