> As far as I know, iPhone and Android aren't doing anything that isn't already done by digital cameras. They ramp up the settings on things like noise reduction and sharpness to balance out their tiny sensors, but it's more or less the same algorithms that the cameras are using.
That is not true AFAIK, phone cameras use things like "AI" enhancement amongst other things. The fake bokeh is one example of this, but there are others, like "AI sharpening" etc. . Also the amount of NR is typically much higher in a phone camera.
You are correct they typically also employ a lot more range compression and contrast enhancement to make pictures "pop" more, but you can often achieve similar things by adjusting camera settings especially in lower grade DSLRs.
