Hello @jremington,
I agree that nothing associated with iPhone is cheap.
But I came across ToF sensors that could measure small distances.
Link: https://tinyurl.com/2vjwca7p
Based on this, I have been looking for some product that has an array of such sensors on a single board.
I also came across VCSEL sensors: https://www.robotshop.com/en/zio-tof-distance-sensor-rfd77402-qwiic-10-200cm.html?gclid=Cj0KCQiAhMOMBhDhARIsAPVml-ES3Si0fa08tz9in_Yu-w6ixI6umMqATbrkGXzzYNpZ65hLUhlsOYIaAvgYEALw_wcB
I even tried looking for an array of such VCSEL sensors: Vertical-cavity Surface-emitting Lasers: VCSEL arrays provide leading-edge illumination for 3D sensing | Laser Focus World
But I could not find any such product in DIY community. I posted this question to see if someone has built such an array or if there already exists one that I have missed.
The best option for me otherwise would be to build it myself as an adhoc array using multiple ToF sensors (but it will become bulky very soon 
).