nagano the least horrible option
Johnnyloans Apple iphones
Very good for security by default, awfully bad privacy (regarding privacy towards Apple). You need to create an Apple ID and tie it to your credentials via phone number (if your country demands identification for phone numbers).
On top of that: Apple will track you throughout the system and forces app installation through the app store which is also tracking you (there is an action law suit against Apple because they keep ignoring the privacy settings for their own apps). And there are problems with VPN leakage on iOS. A good discussion about iOS privacy happened here, I recommend you give it a read.
Another inconvenience is to migrate to iOS and then back to GOS, not all backups will work I assume. And some apps you might love are not supported on iOS (Newpipe, Grayjay, Molly and Antennapod come to mind).
Android phones are by no means perfect, but to avoid horrible privacy you can simply not use a Google account, remove Google and other Vendor services via ADB or just install an alternative OS without them. Nothing of that will be possible on iPhones.
So if you are willing to sacrifice some hardware security (of iPhones and Pixels) I'd say do some research and if possible find a device that supports a good Custom ROM with re-locking your bootloader (this part is important!). I don't have any ideas here, but maybe someone else is deep enough in this rabbit hole to give you some pointers.
However, my advice would be to get a used Pixel 8a as cheap as possible (Google won't profit of used sales) and continue to use GOS. Change to Motorola once available if you feel like it's worth the upgrade. Currently, there simply is no system as secure and private and usable as GOS. Don't use the next best option when it's so, so far apart.
But that's just my 2 cents, I know a lot of people who are happy iPhone users, even when aware of the privacy situation. Thanks for reading this far.