Pixel 7 pro camera deteriorate over time

Long-time Pixel user here—I’ve been using Google phones since the Nexus days! I'm strongly attached to Android, and only Google provides a clean, stock Android experience.

However, one thing that has always disappointed me is how Google's phone cameras seem to deteriorate over time. I hoped the Pixel 7 Pro would be different, but I was wrong. In the first year, the camera was fantastic—better than my wife's iPhone. But now, after almost two years, the photo quality has noticeably declined. In many cases, it's even worse than my wife's iPhone.

I don’t understand why the camera performance worsens over time. Is there a technical reason for this, or is it just that Google hasn’t figured out how to build long-lasting hardware? On the bright side, the "Portrait" mode still works well.

Has anyone else experienced this?