A good post from Chris about photography in the outdoors. You don't always need more megapixels. https://twitter.com/townsendoutdoor/status/1323419803030347782

Wildlife photography is one area where more megapixels are helpful (you can crop more aggressively). For the kind of mountain images I get published in magazines and books, though, anything more than about 12MP is a convenience rather than essential.

Sensor size: bigger is usually better when purely considering image quality, but it's a trade-off (size and weight of equipment, cost, depth of field, other factors). For my personal needs I find either APS-C or Micro 4/3 to be the best compromise.

Phone cameras *can* work well, and can produce publishable images (especially when you shoot in raw), but there are significant downsides in handling, image quality and reliability. For these reasons a phone camera will only ever be a backup for me.

Final thought: when seeking advice on photography online, try to find out the needs/background of the person giving the advice. What works for them may not work for your own specific needs.