let’s set something: “having to adjust settings is unethical towards Apple consumers ethos” just where and who said this? When I first time open camera app there is guided tutorial to setup everything so your point is invalid on this aspect. Apparently yours problem is why the iPhone 14 pro when you use normal mode is doing decent photos but is using 12MP instead 48MP and this is bringing us back to HOW iPhone 14 pro does the fotos, how pixel binning works, impact of file size if you want speak star backing up your statement with real data not subjective opinions.