iPhone 12 and later uses what they call “Ceramic Shield”, which is supposedly 4 times tougher than glass according to Apple. It’s manufactured by Corning, the same company that makes the Gorilla Glass used on many Android devices. Maybe the promise of tougher glass convinces some people to not use a screen protector or something? I personally always use a screen protector, no matter how tough a company promises their glass is, lol.

A large part of the problem may be that replacing the screen on an iPhone isn’t as easy as it is for many other devices. Apple will charge you $362 for them to replace the screen, and having the screen replaced “unofficially” by a third party is also expensive. Performing the screen repair requires the repair person to have access to expensive equipment to avoid Apple’s “security” features that give you popups if it detects that you’ve changed the display. Because it can be so expensive to replace the screen on an iPhone, many people just don’t do it.