My suspicion is that if you are a good enough photographer to be able to identify or care about the differences in image quality between today's phones, you are probably not using a phone to take pictures.
Here is the thing...there are lots of downsides to carrying around a camera. It is bulkier and heavier, it is single purpose, and it is expensive. I am not taking a $400+ camera to the beach. I'm just not. It could get stolen, wet, or get sand on it (which you do NOT want anywhere near that expensive lens).
By contrast my smartphone is always with me because it is also a phone. It is more protected because it is in my pocket...it is in my pocket because it is not heavy and bulky.
Smartphones have become the defacto cameras for people for these reasons. I don't know anyone who carry's a normal camera around all the time, even on vacation. It's a special thing that is out of the norm for the reasons listed above. You take a normal camera with you to special events, and you use your smartphone for everything else.
So that being said, it makes sense to want to get the best camera you can on your phone. Because chances are, most of the pictures you are going to take will be with your phone, not with your expensive camera. I will end up buying a normal camera eventually for one reason; Optical zoom. That is something smartphones will never have probably.