Old habits are hard to break, so I'm still in the minority who still connects their devices to my Mac regularly, for backups and updates.
For Mac updates, the legacy of delta vs. full installer packages did bring benefits in the past, but has become more difficult as Apple has changed the processes, hidden full installers, and pushed users to OTA updates.
iDevices started from a place even farther down that path, but at least Apple still officially supports computer-based device updates, even as far back as Mojave using iTunes with the latest iPhone 17 series. iTunes will ask to download a newer mobile device support library, which catches many off guard as it occurs outside the usual update channels, but the process works.
The only minor sign that it's not something they embrace are the outdated device gliphs that haven't been updated to reflect the newer devices with no screen borders. In iTunes, an iPhone 17 is still depicted as if it was an iPhone 8, with screen borders and an area for a home button. Not characteristic for a company that prides itself, or used to, on the details.
That said, I don't think the benefits as quite as clear as they used to be, as from what I've seen with OS26, even though the download is still a full .ipsw package, the speed with which the payload is copied and staged on the device takes much less time than a full-package transfer would seem to require, and did in the past. In short, an .ipsw update now seems to utilize the truncated process, just like a delta OTA update, despite being drawn from a full download.
But, there are still benefits to this method, as the Mac acts as the unpacking and staging host, and for devices short of free space, unchecking a media sync box is an easy way to free up the needed space on the device, followed by another sync to restore the media.
And, as part of the process, the Mac will automatically perform an updated device backup, at least if there is already one present, before doing the update.
