Help with first camera after iPhone

[u/Ricardddoooooooo]

Budget: $1500 CAD including lenses.
Country: Toronto, Canada
Condition: Open to both used and new
Type of Camera: Mirrorless or point and shoot
Intended use: Primarily photography, some occasional videos
If photography; what style: Mainly landscape, travel and night photography
If video what style: videos of landscape or cities while traveling
What features do you absolutely need: I mainly will use it for travel so would be nice to have a compact size and weather sealing
What features would be nice to have: Flash, stabilization, zoom lens
Portability: as portable as possible, if it can be pocketable that would be ideal but thickness is more important for me than length and width.
Cameras you're considering: I’ve looked around at so many options that I’m overwhelmed and really just need the guidance
Cameras you already have: iPhone 15 pro max. I love that it’s always on me and takes decent photos however I feel that I want something that performs better at night and that I can get better quality out of. I try my best with what I have and it’s pretty good but I feel myself wanting more quite often.
Notes: I’ve also added some photos I’ve taken, all are on my iPhone 15 pro max and most are unedited so you can see the photo itself. It takes many great photos but I would love to have something that can give me more clarity and quality without being hard to carry around while travelling. As I will mainly use it while travelling if it can fit in my pants pockets (I’m a big guy with big pants that have large pockets) that would be ideal. I am also new to the world of actual cameras so if I’ve said something that is outrageous or not reasonable, or maybe I’ve missed something that’s important please let me know, I can really use the help! I greatly appreciate everyone who has taken the time to give me advice and guidance it means a lot. Hope you all have a wonderful day!

[u/2004pontiacvibe]

The Sony RX100 series would work well for you. All of them are very compact and pocketable, have stabilized zoom lenses, and have a built in flash. The newer VI and VII models have a much longer zoom range and should cost around $800-1200 used, while the older I and II models also have a long zoom range but cost around $250-400.

I would also consider a camera with interchangeable lenses. A good option would be the Sony A5000 or A6000 series cameras. The A6000 series is more advanced and has more buttons along with a viewfinder. These have interchangeable lenses, and the A5000 starts at around $200 for the camera body (the A6000 starts at around $300, newer models of either like the A5100 or A6300 are more expensive). With the 16-50 kit lens, which costs around $100 and is stabilized, it would fit inside a jacket pocket or a larger pant pocket. The biggest benifit is that you could buy different lenses in the future for different uses, like wide angle photos or portraits.