> I still need to buy a phone case with my new phone?

…you don’t. I don’t. My phone is scratched here and there, but not in a way that I notice. I used to defend this with my purchasing of insurance, but frankly, I crack the screen now maybe once every 2+ years.

> Apple is assuming the average person will have a case on their phone

I think it is fair to assume that irrespective of the design, most people will case their phones. Leaning into that is fine as long as the phone is still functional without a case. (Which, again, every iPhone in the last decade has been.)

As long as we're doing anecdotes:

For my phones, I use the cheapest most-featureless blackest thinnest TPU cases I can get my hands on.

They tend to [just barely] cover the edges of the glass screen, they're very inexpensive. They never seem to wear out in any appreciable way.

So far, zero broken screens in the ~16 years I've been carrying these pocket computers absolutely everywhere...and I drop them about as often as anyone else does, I suppose.

> functional without a case. (Which, again, every iPhone in the last decade has been.

Agreed they're functional without a case.

Whether it's functional after dropping it face down on the glass onto cement/marble is another question!

I'm not too concerned with cosmetic scratches. The main issue is the screen shattering. And the back of the phone shattering in older models where the back was glass.

I have a case, and therefore I don’t crack my screen (or back), ever. When I sell it after upgrading, I can truthfully list it as “like new” (after a battery replacement).