Yes, area codes still matter, though their role has shifted from indicating where you physically are to serving a few practical functions.
They're still required for dialing. In North America (under the North American Numbering Plan, which covers the US, Canada, and several Caribbean nations), every phone number includes an area code, and in most regions you now must dial all 10 (or 11) digits even for local calls, because so many overlay area codes have been added to the same geographic regions to keep up with demand for numbers.
They no longer reliably indicate location. With cell phone number portability, people commonly keep their childhood area code for life, even after moving across the country. So seeing a "212" or "312" number doesn't necessarily mean the caller is in New York or Chicago anymore. This has reduced their usefulness as a geographic signal, though many people still use them informally to guess where a caller might be from or to screen unfamiliar calls.
They matter for scams and spoofing. Area codes are frequently spoofed by robocallers and scammers to appear local ("neighbor spoofing"), which has made some people distrust caller ID area codes altogether rather than rely on them.
They matter for supply and infrastructure. Regulators (the North American Numbering Plan Administrator) still track area code exhaustion and periodically introduce new overlay codes when a region runs out of number combinations, so the codes remain an important behind-the-scenes tool for telecom capacity planning.
They can carry cultural or identity weight. In some cities, certain area codes (like 213 in Los Angeles or 718 in New York) have taken on symbolic or cultural significance, referenced in music and local pride, separate from their technical function.
In short: area codes remain functionally necessary for the phone system to work, but their original purpose as a location indicator has weakened considerably.