I've been thinking about the cameras on older iPhones, and what makes people prefer certain models, rather than whatever model is the newest.
A quick answer would be that it's just subjective, and we all like different things.
But if you think about it, it's also affected by how people use cameras, what they class as photography, and also what they expect in a photo.
From a photography point of view, it's easy to imagine that one model had a desired focal length or aperture. And then, if you go deeper into photography, you might be looking for certain colour reproductions, temperatures, tones, lighting, etc. For example, I'm a fan of natural grain in images, so I would prefer one that produces a certain type of grain.
So there's already a few different metrics that divide opinion. But on top of that, there are a lot of people that use the iPhone's camera that aren't photographers.
Some may want the best tool to capture memories, others might just want to document their life, just like the cliché of people posting photos of their lunch to Instagram.
And in those cases, it may seem that the latest model would always be the best answer. But that might not always be true. Recent phones tend to come with a lof of built-in adjustments and corrections that are applied automatically to photos. Therefore, even if you're aim is to take a photo that documents a certain scene as accurately as possible, the "better" camera might not actually be the best option.
It's weird to think that a better camera doesn't always produce better photos.
Written: Sat on my sofa, drinking a cold Coke, listening to Full Moon by The Black Ghosts.