Yes, but this is Apple's RAW, and justified as follows:
This is where Apple ProRaw fits in. As Alok Deshpande, Apple's Senior Manager of Camera Software Engineering, explained, ProRaw "provides many of the benefits of our multi-frame image processing and computational photography, like Deep Fusion and Smart HDR, and combines them with the depth and flexibility of a raw format".
He then went into a little more detail about how this is done, adding: "In order to achieve this, we constructed a new pipeline that takes components of the processing we do in our CPU, GPU, ISP and neural engine, and combines them into a new deep image file, computed at the time of capture, without any shutter delay. And we do this for all four cameras, dynamically adapting for various scenes while maintaining our intuitive camera experience."
That final comment is really the key to what could make ProRaw a popular new format, at least among iPhone 12 users. Rather than baffling you with a grid of sliders and confusing terms like 'vibrance', ProRaw editing will take place directly in the Photos app. But it won't only live there.
Apple said that ProRaw editing will be available in "other professional photo editing apps" and that it's also creating an API for third-party apps to capture in Apple ProRaw. There are still quite a few unknowns, such as the file sizes ProRaw might produce, but it seems likely that Apple's approach in the Photos app will be characteristically user-friendly.
The last paragraph indicates that Apple will allow 3rd parties to capture in Apple RAW, so my question remains.
Best wishes,
Jonathan